Off Track
by Statchar
Summary: Naruto sends himself to the past intent on saving his parents and stopping the masked man once and for all. Instead he goes entirely off course from where he originally wanted to go. Pairings somewhat undecided.
1. A little Off

**A/N: Surprisingly not a NaruHina story. Not entirely sure why I made another story, but dammit It's been stuck in my head for the past few weeks. So I just wrote it down for kicks, I don't expect too update this often unless there is some quantity of interest. Obviously a romance story involving action as well, amount of action still undetermined. **

**I'll keep everything ****_mostly_**** English, merely out of laziness on my part, I don't want to waste time on looking what it is in Japanese.**

* * *

"Oww...Kami it hurts!" Naruto said hoarsely. He heard the patter of rain falling on the ground**, **as well at annoying wet droplets that fell on his face and clothing. He groaned as he tried to move, the sound of gravel crunching hit in his ears. His limbs felt entirely odd as he struggled to move them, and he slowly he opened his eyes. His blue eyes met the dark thunderous sky where the rain fell, small bouts of sunlight escaped through tiny cracks of clouds that covered the sky. Slowly but surely, he felt movement in his limbs as he struggled to sit himself up. He ignored the gentle rain while he tried to gather his thoughts, all pointed in the same direction. "Did it work?" He asked himself, not expecting anyone else to answer.

** "Yes"**

He heard the Kyuubi call out to him with his dark and deep voice, which surprised him. Naruto processed this for a moment. "Holy shit" He yelled out in surprise. Another moment of silence came for him as he came to the reality of it. "...So...Are we back to the day before you attacked the village?" He heard the fox growl. "Right, forced whatever...just tell me" He looked around at his surroundings, he had no idea where he was. Nothing reminded him of what he called Konoha as he was surrounded by trees, boulders and to his left, a road.

"**Nope... went completely off course, not sure how much" **He heard within his mind.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Before another question popped in his head. _'Why the hell do I sound younger?'_He looked down at his hands and clothing, He noticed his hands were smaller and the clothing he wore was much more baggy than usual. _'The hell is going on?' _He asked himself. He saw a puddle nearby, taking a gulp he slowly dragged himself towards. _'Oh please don't tell me...' _As he inched himself over the puddle, he closed his eyes in reluctance as he struggled to even open them.

**"Oh just get it over with already" **Kurama said impatiently. Following his command, Naruto forced his eyes open and gaped at what he saw. He noticed the lack of whiskers he had, along with his black hair. Buy what shocked even more was that he was younger, he looked like he was about to graduate the academy. It was the last thing that Naruto realized at what he had done, it was then that reality set for him.

"Ahh!" He screamed as he fell on his back, getting it wet. He looked at the raining sky for a moment. "Ahh!" He screamed once again.

**"You better shut up you idiot, we have no idea where we are!" **He mostly ignored the fox, but he kept his screaming inside. It wasn't even close to satisfying when he heard it himself. After several longs minutes of calming himself or much as he possibly could, he turned to Kurama for answers.

"Why the hell did I turn younger?" He asked disbelievingly.

**"Dunno, I never time traveled before" **The fox lamely replied. The now black haired individual hit his head on the gravel in frustration.

"I was totally prepared for this! I even dyed my hair and cut off my whiskers for this Y'know!" He once again yelled at the sky before Naruto remembered he still had no idea where he was. "Now where the hell am I?" Feeling his energy returning, he rose to his own feet, he felt entirely awkward in his smaller body when he took his first steps. He picked up the small pack he had brought with him.

** "Figure out where we are, and how far we went off track" **Naruto nodded. He felt entirely lost and was glad he had some direction at the least. He got on the road, except he had no idea where which direction to take. Deciding to take a right he walked on with his baggy clothes, that was a few sizes too large for him.

"We could only go one time..." He said depressingly. _'...Not like there's much to go back too' _He sighed, he had to at least hope he didn't go back too far or not far enough. If how he looked now was an indication, he would have already failed his self imposed mission. It was also the reason why he had changed his appearance, to mostly not be recognized. He shivered as he felt the ice cold rain crawl down his back. "Kurama..." He heard a grunt for him to continue. "Thanks for doing this by the way..." He slightly smiled at his reaction.

**"Shut up you idiot, I just didn't want to be part of that!"**He heard him yell._ 'Me too Kurama...'_. He walked for hours as he thought over the events that forced himself here. A world under a genjutsu was an entire lie, it completely sat wrong with him. They were far too late in stopping Madara and Tobi initiating their plan. He was somehow able to break the genjutsu, but he couldn't do it for anyone else. He also lacked the power to destroy the genjutsu plant, which was sealed by a barrier that didn't show any signs of being broken in the constant days of attacking it. He lacked the power to destroy the moon, and thought destroying the moon would be a terrible idea, which Kurama agreed with. Simply put, he had failed everyone and quite miserably too. Luckily with the help of Kurama, they devised a plan to take out Obito. The only thing, he would have shown himself at the attack on the leaf village, since he wanted to save his parents as well. He sighed, now he just had to hope that he went too far instead of not far enough.

"No! That's mine!" He heard a girl yell out. Knocking from his brooding, he looked up to see a girl wearing a dark blue hood fighting over a thin man over a pack, at some distance. He narrowed his eyebrows in anger at the act.

"I don't care bitch! I need to eat!" He raised his hand and slapped the girl, which knocked her down. He desperately held onto the pack to check its contents to make sure it was food.

"Get the hell away from her!" Naruto yelled out as he sent the thief flying with a kick to his jaw. He scrambled on the gravel a meter away before clutching where he was kicked in pain. The pack was scattered between them, but the thief made no motion towards it as he picked himself up and ran without looking back. Seeing as he wasn't going to return, Naruto picked up the bag that was still closed and turned to the girl. The blue hooded girl looked at the ground, her face hidden from view by her hood. She heard some whimpers from her as he set the pack down in front of her. "Are you okay?" He asked. A moment of silence went over them and the sound of rain hitting the stones and dirt was left to fill the void.

"Y-Yes..." He heard a quiet reply, he almost didn't catch it.

"Good...I got your pack back" He replied softly. He kneeled down and lightly shook the bag to prove his point.

"T-Thank you" She replied. Although she made no move to grab the pack in front of her, another silence came over them. Naruto was at a lost at what to do, he wanted to at least ensure her safety before he went on his way."...I'm just hungry" she added.

"Oh" He quickly looked inside the small pack, there was nothing. Just some small supplies like a water bottle or empty wrappers. He frowned, _'Bastard attacked her for nothing' _He restrained his anger before she caught wind of it. He took off his one strap bag and peered inside to see some rice balls along with some cartons of juice._ 'Heh it's from the future' _ He thought to himself as he took out one of the rice balls. "Here!" He replied happily, he extended his arm to her, rice ball in hand. He heard a slight gasp and he saw her blue hair briefly.

"Are you sure?" Naruto saw her reach up to grab it before hesitating, but he heard the barely restrained anticipation in her voice.

"Of course!" He said once again, filled with vigor. He moved the rice ball he still held in front of her, it was starting to get soaked from the constant rain._ 'Wow, when will it stop raining?'_. He stopped his contemplation as the rice ball was snatched from him, and she hungrily devoured it. It was almost enough to rival how he ate ramen as she quickly finished the rice ball.

"Umm, do you..." She let it trail off, unsure whether to ask for more.

"Yup" He replied, he was about to grab his pack before the rain starting baring down with more gusto. "How about we get away from the rain before I give you more" He grinned. She wasn't able to see it as her hood still covered her face. She took a another moment to answer.

"Okay" As she stood up and grabbed her bag that was on the ground. Naruto led the way off the road and under tree large enough to shelter them. It was partially hidden but the road was still in view, enough that any passerby wouldn't notice them. He sat down and opened his pack once more to grab another rice ball, along with a juice box. The girl sat down on the dry grass, but still didn't reveal herself to him. He was starting to wonder how what she looked like. He gave the items to her and she helped herself to his food.

"I think we should wait until the rain calms down" He suggested. She nodded vigorously and starting to eat the food she was given. Naruto listened to the rain fall as he thought of his predicament.

"Thank you" She replied. She was able to finish eating her food once again. Naruto smiled, which was once again missed. Another strained silence met the duo and Naruto wondered what he could say to her.

"Where are your parents" He asked hastily, hoping to break the deafening silence between them.

"T-they're g-gone" She struggled to say. "I'm alone..." She added quietly, Naruto opened his mouth to protest and shout them off for abandoning her before Kurama intervened.

**"She means that they're dead you moron" **He said disapprovingly.** "She's an orphan like you" **He finished. He shook his head at how idiotic his jinchuuriki could be.

"Oh" He simply replied, towards both of them. "Can I ask you something?" Before another awkward silence came. He saw a timid now for him to continue. "Where are we?" He asked her. "I don't remember" He added, with some advice from the fox.

"Oh...Well we're in Ame" she replied.

"Oh ok.."He nodded. He thought long and hard about this at this information, along with what happened right before they met. _'Why would they fighting over food?...Orphans?... I thought Nagato said they were able to stabilize their home...' _He tried desperately to figure where the hell he was. He tried to find any indication from his age, which yielded nothing.

** "War" **Kurama replied. Naruto eyes widened at what he said.

"There's a war?"He said out loud. He didn't even know he said the words until he saw the girl faintly nod, he looked away from her to stare at the ground between his knees. _'We went too far but_..._the last war was even before I was born...'_. He started to hyperventilate at the new information. They were entirely off course from where they were supposed to go. He tried calm himself. _'Maybe I don't have to wait too long' _He thought to himself.

"Are you okay?" He heard the girl, concern evident in her voice. He nodded and closed his eyes. _'I just need to calm down...' _ He tried to control his breathing with deep breathing.

"What's your name?" He asked. Trying to distract himself by asking her name. It didn't help. Not when he heard her say her name. His eyes opened wide, still staring at the ground. His breathing hitched, and he didn't exhale. "What'd you say?" He asked. He heard the name loud and clear. There was no denying it this time. He looked up in shock as he took a look at the girl in the blue coat, her hood no longer hiding her face. The most noticeable feature was her amber eyes, which was filled with concern over the hyperventilating boy who gave her food. Another was her short damp blue hair that clung to her face. What surprised him was that she was young "I'm just tired..." As Naruto fell backward against the tree. _'Konan...' _Was his last thought before he met darkness and fainted.

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**A/N:What did you think? Please tell me if it's interesting or not.**

**I'll explain later why Kurama's there as well, along with other things.**

**Also I'm not entirely sure what the pairing will be, since I like writing romance. **

**Decide I guess**

**NarutoxKonan**

**NarutoxMikoto (Sasuke's mom...Hah!)**

**Or both I guess, I don't have a problem with it, BUT only these two.**

**I'll update when there's interest.**


	2. Extensive

Chapter 2 Extensive

**A/N: I'll be changing just a few things just to make it easier to write, instead of the constant researching, It'll be relatively minor. Like ages of characters, changing when events happen and the like. Perhaps another word is 'molding'. I'll try and keep as reasonable as possible.**

* * *

Naruto groaned, his neck and back felt entirely uncomfortable. He stretched his back and neck and found some satisfying cracks. "Oh, that feels good" He moaned. He heard a giggle and he opened his eyes to find leaves in his vision along with the still raining sky. He turned his head to find a smaller Konan sitting down, her arms around her shoulders. She had a innocent smirk along with a amused look in her eye. It completely bewildered him to see a kid Konan instead of a the early 30's Konan. She looked like she was around 11 or something-he didn't know-he was pretty horrible at guessing ages. What intrigued him was that he saw pain in her amber eyes. "How long was I out?"He asked. Sitting himself up.

"About an hour" She replied. Naruto saw a bit of curiosity in her eyes.

"So you're Konan huh?" He asked. The blue haired girl nodded quickly. Naruto smiled widely, "It's nice to meet you Konan! My name is-"

**"Never use your real name you idiot!"**

'Oh crap! thinkthinkthinkthink' a bowl of ramen disrupted him, prompting him to nearly drool. "-Menma" he finished. Before he took too long in trying to say his name.

**"Why am I surprised...Another condiment of ramen"**

** "**Hello Menma" She smiled widely as well. _'Well Konan looks a bit weird when she smiles'_ He guessed it had something to do with how he painted her as a very serious type since, she did help in destroying his village once. '_Wonder where she was during the war...'_ He was distracted by his stomach growling.

"Man, I'm hungry" He looked inside his pack that had fallen, along with two more rice balls. _'hmm...I was sure there was one more'_ He took a glance up at Konan. She had slightly guilty expression woven on her face and avoided eye contact. "Did you take one?" He asked with no sort of contempt.

She nodded. "Yeah...Sorry" she replied.

"Heh don't worry about it" He grabbed the last two he had in his bag, along with 2 more juice boxes. "You want some more?" He displayed a rice ball along with the juice box. She looked a bit hesitant at this. "Go one take it, I don't mind at all" He smiled, she took at last and silently ate her food, much slower this time. While Naruto ate, Kurama decided to talk to his jinchuuriki.

**"Naruto" **He got his attention.** "You have to be careful with your chakra and mine, your body is reacting weirdly"**

_"How?" _He said only to Kurama.

**"Your chakra is fluctuating, it might be dangerous for you to go into sage mode without that special stick"** He explained. _'Stick...'_ Now he remembered, the pain and bruises he sustained from being repeatedly beaten from Fukasaku.

_"So I can't control it? and might die from turning into a statue?" _He felt the fox nod. Which was such an odd experience for him.

**"For some reason I can't gather my chakra properly, I can only gather so little"**

_ "Why's that?"_

"**Might be because, I'm here- well the other me at least"** The orange fox said.

_"Wait there's two of you?" He asked._

**"Yeah...I feel him, he can probably feel me too" **Naruto felt a weirded out by this. _'Two Kuramas? jeez...' _Half of his chakra was already so strong, but having two entire wholes of them was just insane. "**We an anomaly in this world, we're not supposed to be here...So I guess that's why you're young and why I can only gather such a minuscule amount. I'm not sure what will happen, If all my chakra disappears"** Naruto thought he heard some fear in his voice, he dismissed it, even if he did confront him about it, he would never admit it. **"So only use my chakra in emergencies, So you'll have to lock the sealing again"**

_"Right, got it Kurama"_

** "You can probably get into sage mode, when you get older" **Naruto nodded in his mindscape, another odd experience. "**Never paid much attention to the world, so I don't know much while I was sealed"**

"_So...I can't ask you help, and why was that?"_ He asked, a little confused.

**"Yeah, I only wanted to get out, so I only paid attention to negative emotions"** He hinted. Which Naruto got, remembering when the times when he got angry, like when Hinata was struck down in front of him. _'Mom's alive...did she ever give in?'_He sighed as he took a drink from his juice box "**You know what we have to do right?"**

"_We have to stop Obito, whatever the means_" Now the only thing he had to do was to stop Obito, somehow. Other than Kurama, he thought about how alone he was now in this world ._"Guess I'll never see any of my friends, for a long time...'_ His thoughts got a bit depressed, they wouldn't be his friends anymore. _'Hinata, Sakura , Kakashi-sensei...Sasuke'. _Before his thoughts could get any more depressing on what 'ifs'.

"Menma?"Knocking him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Konan standing out of the cover of the rain. "Thank you" She slightly bowed her head.

"What for?" He asked curiously. She seemed to be a bit confused by this question.

"For giving me food of course, bye Menma" She turned around and started to walk towards the road. Naruto looked confusingly looked at her for a moment while, _'Wait...Nagato was controlled by Obito_!' He quickly took out a scroll containing a overcoat to help protect him from the rain. It was a simple, black in color and had a hood large enough to cover his face. The overcoat was also a bit to large as it nearly touched the ground when it was supposed to go to his knees. He kept his hood down as he slipped it on him he walked into the rain to catch up with her, which was the direction he headed before.

"Wait!" He ran after her. She turned around, a bit surprised. "Two is better than one right?" She was a bit perplex by such a random question. Rain gently poured down around them.

"I guess..." She answered, she decided to humor him.

"Well we're both alone right?" She hesitantly nodded, a bit hurt she was reminded of the fact. "Then we should be friends!"

"But... we just met?..."

"That doesn't mean anything! Anyone can be friends, no matter how long they've known each other" Konan was a bit taken back by the fierceness in his ocean blue eyes, she saw the pain-similar to hers- and the loneliness. "Do you know what friends do?" She shook her head. "Friends watch out for each other, that's what I believe Y'know!"He smiled widely. Konan returned the smile, she never really had a friend and the prospect of having one was too good to pass up. He was obviously very kind as well, with the free food and his aura that excluded kindness. She didn't survive this long without knowing when people lied, she had struggle to get this far.

"Okay... It'll be nice to finally... have a friend" She had a small thankful smile. She didn't think she could trust someone this easily, but there was something about him. Perhaps it was the way he fiercely believed in himself in his word, told through his eyes and energy.

"Great! Because I got no idea where to go, I'm completely lost" He chuckled embarrassingly, a hand rubbing his neck. She giggled at him

"It's okay, I think there's supposed to be a town up ahead" With a slight smile they both walked ahead together in a newly formed friendship.

* * *

Naruto looked around as he walked through the town, the market had little number of people going through. The town was small probably housing several thousand people, most buildings were easily 2 or 3 stories high, it seemed Ame liked to compact their towns. He looked into his bag, which he had filled with food along with Konan's. He pocketed the rest of his money into his gama-chan. _'This money won't last us for long'_. He thought of the possibilities of how to obtain more food later on. Apparently no one was hiring or looking for help as an orphan was kicked out of the store by a shopkeeper. The orphan had complained that it was the last place to try and make money. Other shops seemed to be closing, from lack of business or moving somewhere safer. He wanted to help but Kurama had said to leave him be, since sooner or later they too would be in that position. They would have to steal when they ran out.

"Thank you Menma!" He looked to his right to see Konan happily enjoying an orange popsicle, apparently she never had any sweets before.

"It's no problem Y'know!" He smiled, it was a bit sad for him, the way they grew up was significantly different from his own, which had no war. Yet, he was still a teen, at least mentally. His mind was that of seventeen year old, except he was in the body of a 12-13 year old. He looked around the town he was in, it was in pretty bad shape. The war hadn't reached here yet, but the numerous homeless, refugees and orphans was staggering when they had first entered, they seemed to have set up camp at the edge of town. It was much less so when they entered the market district. _'The 4th war was much different than this...'_ He cursed at his laziness over not paying attention at the academy, he only really paid attention to his father's exploits, which only happened in the 3rd shinobi war. He knew next to nothing over the cause of the war, only that it Ame was at the epicenter at three warring nations.

They had found a suitable place for camping just before they had entered the village, but first they had to gather supplies needed. Now that they had gathered the necessary gear they were returning to that spot. They walked along a street and Naruto saw a squad of Ame shinobi heading their way. He remembered that he still had his Konoha hitai-ate in his pack , he sighed in relief as they passed.

** "You're going to have get to rid of that thing" Kurama suggested.**

_"But-"_

**"Get rid of it before you cause trouble for yourself, you're going to have to find that Nagato kid, it won't do if you get captured or scare off that girl" **Naruto sighed. Knowing he was right. Ame was clashing with Konoha after all and Nagato did hate Konoha ninja. He was reluctant to dispose of it as well, since it did belong to Iruka. He looked down in thought _'Alright, find Yahiko, Nagato and then Pervy-sage and go back to Konoha...and try to bring them all back'. _It was definitely going to be hard. They were nearing the edge of town where they had come from, since there was only going to a few more hours of daylight left. He heard something hit the ground, but paid no attention to it. He heard some hissing '_Wait, that sounds like-' _ He looked up in front to see a kunai sticking out of the ground several feet in front, with burning note. _'A paper bomb!'_ It was already half way down. His ninja training kicked in, but also concern for Konan, who was oblivious to it. He moved in front of her and picked her up, sending chakra to his feet for a jump out of the incoming blast.

Only for it to fail as he took a step to be thrown away from the concussive force. He felt Konan slip out of his arms and he fell hard on the dirt. He heard ringing in his ears and dizziness as he struggled to get on his feet. He heard muted booms of more paper bombs going off, the screaming and orders of various shinobi and civilians. He shook away his confusion as he looked around to see Konan starting to pick herself up. Refugees and children running away from the inevitable battle. He saw Konoha shinobi running into the wall less town, attempting to raid the town they were in. They quickly clashed with other Ame ninja. He ran towards Konan to help her up.

**"Fighting is not a good idea! Run!" **He heard Kurama scream at him. If his failure to enhance his jump with chakra was any indication, it might be too dangerous to stay. Not only that, but Konan didn't have any ninja training yet. Her wellbeing was his priority. He felt the blood flow quickly in his veins as adrenaline entered his system.

"We got to get to safety!"As Naruto picked the blue haired girl up. She looked at him wide eyed in fear for a moment before nodding. "Run away!" He desperately said. He led the way away from the fighting, he constantly looked back to check they weren't going to be hit from any stray shuriken or jutsu. He almost wished he hadn't. He saw various civilians get struck down from missed attacks, others wounded from both sides in the confusion as numerous villagers ran way. He tried to pick up the pace but Konan slowed him down, he didn't even think for a second of leaving her behind. It was not in his nature to. He heard a loud bell ringing go across the town, signifying an attack. Seeing some shuriken heading coming from behind, he took out a kunai he held in his pocket. He deflected the 3 ninja tools and they fell uselessly to the ground, he saw the shocked face of Konan as she was saved by him. "Let's go!" he yelled.

More Konoha shinobi seemed to have infiltrated deeper into the town as he heard some explosion sound off the deeper in the village. "How did they get here already!" Naruto heard a panicking Ame ninja yell out. As Naruto ran with Konan, he constantly checked his surroundings. It was absolute chaos. A two story building fell as it couldn't handle the strain of paper bombs destroying the side. Trapping or killing any unlucky bystanders that were to close. He held tightly onto the right arm of Konan to make sure she wouldn't fall behind. Children and villagers alike screamed in terror as they ran away from the conflict, only to meet more ninja fighting against each other. Naruto ran through alleyways and across streets avoiding any more kinds of fighting. _"Got get her somewhere safe!' _Was the only thing going through his mind, other than danger he hardly paid any sort of attention to anything.

Along with Konan, he ran along with crowd to flee out of the village. He saw a boy around his height fell down in front of him. Numerous villagers trying to flee raced past him, ignoring him. A body from a Ame ninja fell down from atop the building, landing beside the boy. Naruto was horrorstruck as he saw a kunai with an attached paper bomb in the man's chest. It was in the middle of a innocent crowd. Temporary letting go of Konan, he dove for it and landed on his belly. He tore the kunai out of the dead man and quickly spun to his back to throw it into the air. It harmless blew up above the 2nd story building, he let out a quiet sigh of relief. Still on his back, Naruto saw a figure standing looking curiously at what he done. He shivered as he looked into the eyes of the man. _'The Sharingan...' _He looked eerily similar to Sasuke before he jumped away.

"Menma!" He heard Konan say in concern. Naruto quickly stood up and Konan quickly joined him.

"I'm okay" He replied. He looked to his side to see the boy still on the ground. He quickly went over to hooded boy. "Come on man get up!" More panicking people ran by. The constant rain seemed to have picked up the pace in the chaos.

"Wha...?" He slowly picked himself and Naruto decided to make it faster by helping him. "Thanks" He breathed out. His hooded shaking loose. He saw orange hair fall out and the boy looked towards him. _'Yahiko?!' _

"Come on let's get out of here!" Shaking out of his thoughts as another nearby explosion sounded.

"Right!" Still confused from his fall. Luckily there were no more close calls as they made their ways out of the village.

* * *

Naruto looked at the small fire that was made, he yawned in emotional and mental exhaustion._'...What a...crazy day'._ After the skirmish that had taken place in the town earlier today. The three of them, Naruto, Konan and Yahiko had followed the rest of the refugees out of the small village. It wasn't long before darkness fell and found a place to looked at the sleeping forms of both of them, surrounding the fire. It was weird being in the presence of both upcoming founders of the Akatsuki. Another founder still out in Ame somewhere. _'Didn't think I would meet the two of them in the same day...Now if only I had my pack'._ He had lost his food, along with Iruka hitai-ate, he didn't even know he lost it. It wasn't until an hour after they left the village, he kept worrying about potential looked he was 12 or 13 years of age, perhaps he could ask him. Apparently it was rude to ask of ages, if his travels with Jiraiya was of any indication. The ages of people didn't really matter to him anyways. Yahiko didn't say much, nor did anyone else for that matter. Yahiko wanted to thank him, and had said he would come up with something tomorrow.

He thought back on what happened in the village, it was relatively peaceful just moments before. _'It was horrible...'_ The numerous innocent bystanders that were struck down. It made feel entirely uneasy, like he was going to puke. He recalled the moments when Neji was killed right before his eyes, along with other shinobi killed by the wood style attack from the ten-tails. It was an entirely different experience to see the deaths of powerless civilians against ninja. _'They were harmless...'_ He looked over to his fellow orphans that lay asleep. _'This is what they grew up in... the middle of war'. _It unsettled him to see his fellow village shinobi accidently take the lives of civilians. At least it hoped it was accidental, what bothered him the most was that man. The man with the sharingan, he had an amused look in his eyes when he saved the villagers. It was all he saw before he took off, Naruto hoped he had at least some regret in them. What unsettled him most was that he reminded Naruto of Sasuke.

**"If it was always like this...convincing them to come with you is going to be hard" **Kurama said.

_ "I'll find a way, I think the person who's going to have a tougher time is Nagato though'_ Naruto replied back.

** "Go train before you head to bed, we need to see what your capable of" **Naruto nodded in agreement. He couldn't allow his weird chakra to act again. He needed to get used to his smaller body, it still felt awkward to be in it. _'Now we just need to find Nagato, and if I convince Yahiko to come with us we'll find him in no time'_ . Naruto wondered what kind of things were in store for him.

* * *

**A/N: No, Naruto did not get just a down grade. It's very temporary, and he wanted to protect Konan. He could still fight, since he's still a badass without sage mode and Kurama. Kurama could still help, but he's still hampered. I just didn't want him to become OP and absolutely decimate others.**

**Also surprised at the interest in this story.**

**There won't be much romance until they've grown up a bit. Still having picked the pairing, but I'm leaning towards Mikoto and Konan.**


	3. A Fox

**Chapter 3 A Fox **

**A/N: No, I will not be doing any Incest, or adding any more girls to the mix.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**I usually write several chapters before submitting them, so expect longer updates from now on.**

* * *

Naruto ran along height of the tree with his chakra, he launched himself away and landed gracefully on the ground. He attempted the familiar hand sign. "Shadow clone Jutsu!" A clone popped into existence, appearing beside him. He left his hand facing upward, he gathered chakra into spiraling and the clone quickly added the power to it. At break neck speed with the help of his chakra, he approached a large tree. "Rasengan!" Slamming into the trunk. He heard the loud snapping as he dove the jutsu into the wood, tearing right through it. With a groan the tree toppled down on its side. He wiped his brow at his handy work, the constant rain quickly cooling him down."Well I guess I'm back to normal" He proclaimed. "What do you think Kurama?"

**"A bit slower than before, but I guess that your body is the reason why"**

He nodded at his reasoning. _'Hmm I left some scrolls in my bag back there..I would like to get Iruka-sensei's hitai-ate too...'_ He looked at the dark sky, rain still falling._ 'I'll probably won't find it...But the Konoha ninja might have jutsu's too.' _

**"It will be fortified Naruto..."** He heard the fox say. **"You can't just walk in there"**

"I know" He replied."I'm technically not apart of Konoha yet" He was anxious to try out a set of skills he had never used before. It didn't even take long for him to get back into shape, hardly a half hour before his chakra returned to normal. '_Guess it acted weird when I used to it go back in time...'_. He found out his chakra was pretty much monstrous as ever, but Kurama warned him against going into sage mode, just in case. He stretched his limbs, in all honestly, Naruto thought he didn't need it.

"How about some real combat, just for fun?" He thought cockily. _'Hmm...Maybe If I get caught...'_ He wasn't even close to being tired, he really needed that little workout. He finally let the stress of failing and time traveling out, he didn't think he would travel this far back. He craved for more, just mostly harmless combat, a simple spar would suffice. Making up his mind, he created a shadow clone to watch over the ame orphans and he quickly starting traveling towards where the town was. It's only been at least 6 hours since he came to this time, and as soon as he woke he time traveled. _'Besides, I want to get my bag back...'_ He sprinted across the wet ground and within half an hour he made into sight of the town, which had taken 2 hours of walking with civilians. Patrols filled the road leading to the town where he had escaped with Yahiko and Konan.

He stood at the edge of large field filled with tall grass, rain softly drifted to the ground like falling mist. The moonlight shone faintly through the cracks of clouds, hardly lighting the landscape, the sun had disappeared a little more than 2 hours ago . The only useful source of light came from the upcoming town. The lack of colors on the buildings and constant rain had an air of melancholy associated with it . He slowly traversed through the tall grass, hoping that there weren't any byakugan users guarding it. There were numerous amounts of traps engineered to alert of any possible intruders that Naruto bypassed. Even though the distance to the town was about 200 meters , it was taking a while to traverse the distance. He was getting frustrated at such a slow crawl, but what he found out when training for senjutsu was that sensing for nature energy helped calm him. He did not dare try to collect any of it. After a hour of avoiding traps and various curious patrols he finally made it into the edge of town.

He climbed a small building, he noticed most of the roofs were flat. _'Damn that long to get here...How about a harmless 'prank'...'. _It was a bit morbid at what he thought, but not only it would make him it easier for him to search, but it would also help them. He created 50 shadow clones to help him search for his bag and to offer his assistance. They silently scattered buildings and alleyways. Naruto quickly looked around for any nearby ninja. Satisfied, he quickly traversed a top of 3 story building and scouted more. Numerous Konoha shinobi were patrolling the streets, some no doubt celebrating their victory as he heard some excited yelling, others were on top roof tops, keeping a lazy watch on the streets. _'There doesn't seem be any Hyuuga's...'._Since he hadn't been caught constantly scouted around various rooftops, heading deeper into the town, searching anything below for any potential of where his bag was. After several more minutes he felt the memory of clone enter his. _'Wasn't on the route where I might have dropped it...Guess I could just keep looking'_

He felt a wave of nostalgia hit him as he remembered the days of pranks he accomplished against the anbu. This was just far too similar to what he was doing now. He climbed up the highest building in the town, which was easily 6 stories tall. It hung in the middle of the town, with several more smaller buildings surrounding it. Near the top, he took a peek and saw a male Konoha chuunin. He remembered the days of traveling with Jiraiya, all the skills he was taught. Jiraiya had taught him plentiful amounts of infiltrating and information gathering, and most importantly. He quietly slipped behind the guard overlooking and reached for his neck. He made a grab for him, trying to make him black out from lack of oxygen. He struggled to break free and failed to call out loudly, which only came out a quiet gasps. His exhaling made it easier for Naruto as he struggled to take in more air, he stopped moving soon after, blacking out. _'Thank you pervy-sage'_ As he lied him down on the floor, he never was able to use these set of skills before; which Jiraiya had been adamant on teaching him.

Naruto thought he would never use his infiltrating skills again, he was thankful that Jiraiya taught him these against his will. He never did have the patience for this, but sensing nature energy helped calmed him. He smiled as overlooked the village, the rain felt gentle and it felt good to get in his hair. Jiraiya had said he would make an excellent infiltrator and spy with the help of his shadow clones. He felt the memory of another shadow clone enter his head. _'A small jutsu library...'_At least it was one thing he sought sent out more shadow clones to speed the search of his bag. He took one last look, various Shinobi up top roofs were incapacitated from the clones he sent out earlier. _'I wonder why there are no Hyuugas...'_He quickly made his way down the large building and made his way across roof tops to where the jutsu library was.

Jumping down on a building, his instincts screamed of incoming danger. Quickly taking out a kunai he looked to his right to see several shuriken racing towards him. He deflected the 3 tools, falling uselessly to the ground several stories below. _'Did he alert everyone else?!' _ As he landed on a roof top and turned towards were the shuriken were thrown. Naruto's hood was raised , and he quickly raised his loose collar to hide his face. A lone ninja appeared on the roof top with him. Light barely lit up his face as Naruto saw onyx eyes.

"You dare attack Konoha territory?" He said lowly. Naruto saw he wore a high collared outfit similar to Sasuke's . "You're 'infiltrating' stops here" He said condescendingly. _'Is he-' _"I'll show you the might of an Uchiha, I'll capture you myself" He proclaimed. _'That answers that my question...'_

"Did you alert anyone else?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Heh, like I need anyone else" He claimed. _'Were all Uchiha's like this?'_. He didn't recall any Uchiha's from his memory, it was something he didn't like to think about, his past. "I don't even need to use my sharingan on you"

"Okay thanks"

"What do y-" Was all he said before he fell to the ground. A shadow clone standing victoriously over him.

"Woah an Uchiha!" The shadow clone claimed, seeing the crest on the knocked out individual. He lied face down, his mouth hanging open, drool coming out. "They sure like boast don't they, huh boss?" He tried to hide the unconscious Uchiha as best as he could on the bare roof. "He didn't use his sharingan right?" The original shook his head. _'Maybe he thought he could beat me without it...'_

"Yeah I remember Sasuke-teme was like this a lot when we were team 7" The original replied Nostalgically. _'Wait I'm talking to myself...'_ He dispersed the shadow clone from existence, he shook his head. He continued on his way towards where the Jutsu library was located_' Is there no Byakugan because there are Sharingan users?_. Quickly arriving, he saw a small courtyard with some tents erected in them, a nearby church was lit where some shinobi exited._ 'Is that the Head quarters thing or whatever?' _He thought it would be...more grand, not in some random church. It sat close to the market district, not far from when he entered with Konan. From his shadow clone, he had overheard from a random Konoha shinobi that the library would lend Jutsu to genin and chuunin that were still training, to become more effective. _'They trained while there was a war going on?' _He was still ignorant to the realities of war, It was vastly different from the 4th war. He waited atop the roof, that was above the courtyard, waiting to see if his bag could be found. More shadow clones memories going through his mind after searching in designated areas. Only to find no potential leads in the long minutes.

**"If you wait any longer they might find the weaklings you knocked out"**

"_Right"_ He tried to say as confidently as he could. He had forgotten about it already, _'I guess I couldn't find Iruka's hitai-ate after all...' _He shook his thoughts away to get back to the task at hand. He scouted the courtyard, there was still numerous shinobi mulling about near the church and tents. _'__**Think of infiltrating and gathering information like pranks'**_ He heard the tired talks of Jiraiya echo through his mind. _'Right a distraction'_. He chuckled at a memory, Jiraiya was so frustrated at him for complaining about it. It was then when he said those words was then he truly started to enjoy it. _'Although doing pranks was a lot more fun than this_...' as he created several more shadow clones to trip the traps to the east side of town, opposite from where he infiltrated. _'If I remember...the Sharingan could tell particular kinds of chakra...like the Byakugan I think' _He couldn't allow himself to get spotted by them, it could potentially not allow him to join Konoha. His clones left to complete the distraction. _'Man I should have thought more about this' _He berated himself._ 'At least I'm doing alright for my first time...'_ He waited several minutes, and then.

Several flares shot up into the sky near at the fields where the Konoha shinobi attacked from, a kilometer away to his right. He heard the distant explosions of paper bombs going off to accompany it. Naruto watched the shinobi move into action to combat the fake threat, yelling orders at each other. He created another clone to alert when they started to come back. The bell sounded, there was still several shinobi left to guard the church and tents. It was significantly less so then before. He quickly jumped off the roof after checking to see if it was clear, ran across the street. He sprinted into the nearest tent, which had no guards posted around. Adjusting his eyes to more brighter interior of the tent, he found several tables which was filled with various scrolls and books. Another one in the corner that seemed to be carrying blank scrolls, getting an idea-not be greedy-he made the familiar cross "Shadow clone Jutsu!" Several clones popped into existence. "Alright grabbed those empty scrolls on the table in the corner and copy wind jutsu's and fuinjutsu" He ordered. From Kurama's earlier suggestion, he definitely needed to up his repertoire of jutsu to be more flexible. He wasn't a taijutsu expert, but Kurama and he thought it was sufficient enough. The giant fox thought he should take advantage of his chakra to its fullest extent.

_"Kurama, you'd make a good sensei y'know" _he voiced his thoughts to him. He found a scroll he was interested in and started to copy it down

**"Shut up" **He smirked as he and his clones worked on copying down jutsu as fast as they can. Several minutes later he had the memories of the clone stationed outside come to him. Several guards were to sent here from the church, no doubt to guard any possible stealing of jutsu, like what he was doing now. He found bag in a corner and quickly picked it up, the clones quickly dumped the copied scrolls into the bag. Slinging it over his back, he quickly exited the tent and ran across the street and up on the building where he scouted before.

"Heh, too easy!" Taking one last look at the area, the Konoha shinobi seemed to have no clue some of their jutsu were stolen. _'Although I am a Konoha shinobi' _He reasoned. His distraction seemed to have gotten the ninja anxious, as they seemed to waiting for an attack to where he diverted their attention, told from a shadow clone memory. The rain started to pick up the pace-creating heavy droplets-far from the small gentle like mist. He started running towards the exit, the heavy rain quickly drenching his cloak. He jumped from roof top to roof top with chakra enhanced jumps. He looked up ahead to see a shinobi from the right jump on the roof top two buildings away, blocking his way to the road. _'Looks I got caught again...'_ He landed at the roof top where the ninja was _'But I guess a spar would be nice'_. They gazed at each for a moment, taking each other's appearance, gauging their possible skill.

_' A girl...'_ Naruto saw she wore a chuunin flak jacket and Konoha hita-ate in its rightful place, black pants that fit snugly and a katana that hung behind her waist. She was fair-skinned and had medium length wet black hair that was tied into a high-pony tail that reached her neck. She had long bangs that were on the side of her face, and partially covered the hitai-ate and just above her onyx eyes and nose. _'She's pretty_...' Seeing her wet heart shape face, and determined black eyes. She seemed to be 14 or 15 and was just about an inch or so taller them him. Which wasn't saying much compared to other kids his age , he was a puny 4 foot and 8 inches. She was slender, but no doubt a trained kunoichi that excluded confidence. "You're not going anywhere" She said sternly. A voice that Naruto found lovely, _'This isn't the place to think about girls...'_ Luckily the heat in his cheeks was hidden by his collar. He saw the 3 tomoes of the sharingan flare in her eyes as she took a fighting stance, gripping the hilt of her blade.

* * *

Mikoto Uchiha was returning from a scouting run from beyond the fields, she ignored the banter from her team. Rain kept pouring down from the sky, she just wanted to get some sleep. As an Uchiha, she was very prideful of her clan. Except she didn't boast about it because being best friends with a loud and brash red head had stopped her from that. Something about 'sticks up Uchiha's asses', and many other crude insults. She wondered once again about how she got to be best friends with her. She already knew the reason of course, when her mother had died Kushina's energy and upbeat attitude had really helped her out of her depression. She was always taught by being an Uchiha that wielded the sharingan would grant her superiority over others, and that the clan should come first and the village second. She felt somewhat conflicted in her ideals, Kushina and her boyfriend Minato believed in the village, the village came first for them. _'But...they don't belong to clans...'._It may have had more effect on her if they were. She was proud to not have the arrogance that the vast amount of the Uchiha clan had, something that Kushina was responsible for, it did not mean she wasn't confident. _'I wonder if she's doing well_...' She was stationed in the land of rivers, along with Minato to fight suna ninja._'I hope she's doing okay'._

They approached the town from the road, they did not dare step into the fields, since it was cluttered with many traps that should be difficult to navigate. They stepped into the town and some series of flares going into the air to the left from their entrance knocked Mikoto out of her thoughts, some explosions accompanied it.

"That's from the east entrance!"A man claimed in her group, a jonin that led their patrol. "Uchiha" Mikoto turned her attention from the flares to the jonin. "Inform HQ of the situation in the northern sector and join us afterwards"

"Hai" She nodded.

"You two" Pointing towards the rest of her teammates. "Let's go!" They sprinted towards the direction of the flares. She sighed and made her way to the roof tops to go to the church. Which was more in the southern part of town, near the center. Despite her capability as chuunin kunoichi, she wasn't well liked by the jonin captain she was assigned to scout with, nonetheless she had a command to follow._' Is he jealous of the sharingan?, or is it because of conceited members of my clan?_. She stopped on a roof top for moment, she took in her surroundings of the many roof tops, all were bare. _'Where are the shinobi that was supposed the be watching?'_. The rain seemed to have picked up the pace, making her hair damp hair even more soaked than the gentle mist-like rain. She disregarded it and continued on her way, eager to met any resistance from the possible attack. She moved past the center buildings taking a slight detour to avoid wasting time on the larger buildings. She a saw movement up to her left _'He's heading away from the attack, doesn't wear anything that Konoha would have pack' _ She moved to intercept him, moving faster than him.

Stopping in of him on a wide but small roof, he quickly joined her soon after. She quickly scrutinized him, and quickly reasoned that he was infiltrating or had hid in the town since he wore nothing identifying of Konoha shinobi_' Then he must be good...'_. There wasn't much to see, as his black overcoat hid most of his clothing, nearly touching the drenched floor. _'Is he wearing orange pants?_'Seeing a some color in the gloomy setting. His hood and collar hid his face, but she could see his black hair that hung over his cerulean eyes. '_'Those eyes almost look like...'_An image of Minato flashed in her mind. She could see some amusement in his gorgeous eyes of his. _'Gorgeous huh?'_ she felt amused at herself. "You're not going anywhere" She claimed. _'He might be dangerous'. _Although considering he was no more than 13 and his height, he couldn't be too skilled. She gripped the hilt of the blade attached to her back. When she activated her Sharingan seeing the slight movements and his chakra, Mikoto was surprised. She felt her cheeks slightly heat, but she quickly willed it away. _'His chakra...feels and looks so warm...'. (_**A/N: Sharingan cannot detect amount of chakra, I hope...If not, in this story it can't). **He also got into a fighting stance, a kunai held in front his chest in a reverse grip. She wiped her thoughts away and she raised her killing intent to her highest but even with her sharingan, she couldn't see any outward reaction. Usually enemy shinobi were be intimidated by their eyes, since they were famous. _'This guy...'_ She felt uneasy from his lack of reaction. _'Not even a flinch'. _She only knew few of those capable of that, like Kushina and Minato. She saw the muscles under her eyes raise. _'Is he smiling?'_. She held her ground, trying air her confidence. His eye's showed eagerness but no form of hostility and she felt no killing intent whatsoever.

"I'm glad to see your not like most Uchiha's I've met" He commented. Almost...kind of happy. It confused her, and she wanted it to be elaborated on. She narrowed her eyes and she stared into his blue pools. She attempted to cast a genjutsu, it worked. Only for it to fail a quick moment later. _'What?!...How did he catch it so quickly and with no hand signs!?_ She could obviously see the amusement in his eyes. "Genjutsu won't work on me" With a hint of smugness. They hadn't moved an inch but Mikoto could feel her palms getting clammy. _'He...Completely believes in himself...'_His body language was one thing, but his fiery eyes were another. He held no doubts in himself and held an aura of clear confidence. Mikoto could believe that he had the skills to back him up. She took a deep breath to calm herself. _'I guess genjutsu is out of the question...'_He seemed to be anticipating their fight, eager even.

"I'm an Uchiha" She said to him. Although more to herself to help calm her nerves. _'We're one of the elites of Konoha...'_ She quickly unsheathed her katana, raising at him. _'Everything has a weakness'. _Sending chakra to her feet she quickly crossed the distance between them, she brought her sword in downward diagonal slash. Which he quick blocked with his Kunai he held with his left hand. Undeterred Mikoto kept pressure on her blade and used her flexibility to try and land a left kick to his head, which he quickly blocked with his right forearm. She quickly retreated only to dive back in to deliver more strikes. Her sharingan captured his precise and experienced movements, she heard the clings of metal scrapping against metal as he redirected or blocked her strikes. _'It's like he's playing with me...'_ Seeing her attacks wouldn't get through.

She jumped away and sheathed her katana. _'I'm no master at kenjutsu yet...' _Once she landed she quickly closed the distance once more. She threw punches which would only get deflected, but she noticed she had the advantage as she put him in a defensive state. Except she could not land any solid hits, even with the help of her sharingan. He started to retaliate throwing hard punches that she blocked, she was sure that it would leaves bruises in the morning, within 30 seconds of no hits. Taking an inspiration for Kushina in their spars; she threw a left hook, which he blocked with his left hand, she was able to get a firm hold on his wrist. She punched with her right fist, and predicting his movements with her sharingan, watched as he went to block her fist while she went for a kick to his ribs. She put as put force and the her kick landed, although the only reaction was a grunt as he reacted with a kick of his own. She retreated before he could land it. _'I won't be able to win with taijutsu either'_ His attacks were punishing, whenever she blocked an attack it made her numb. In their brief scuffle she was only able to land one solid hit, and it didn't even seemed to have winded him at all. _'He could've done the same to me...why didn't he grab me?'_

Grabbing a few shuriken in her pouch she threw it at him. She jumped back and still in mid air she completed a few hand signs, she inhaled **"Fire style: Great fire ball jutsu"** and exhaled fire that covered the small roof. With the small distance the large fireball quickly approached him. _'There's no way for him to escape'_ The bright flame would no doubt alert any one nearby. Just in case, she quickly placed her right hand on the hilt of her blade in a reverse grip. Once it dissipated she noticed a hole in the roof.

"What's up?" She heard behind her, almost playfully. She had already twirled around, quick drawing her sword to slice him. She heard a loud slap. She looked at him wide eyed as he held the blade between his palms. _'Even with Iaijutsu?"__**(1)**_ He stood on the edge of the roof, where he probably came out from a window. She stared into his blue eyes, enjoyment present in them. Light filled from behind him and Mikoto saw a giant fireball in her vision, the bright light nearly blinding her as it raced quickly to where they stood. He seemed to be aware of the incoming attack, her eyes captured a slight change in his chakra, he moved much faster than before and too quickly for her react. She was grabbed and pulled down the edge of the roof, losing her katana in the process. Falling, she was held bridal style and she thought she heard growling resonate in the brief moment of contact as they made it the ground "See ya later" He said begrudgingly. As she was lied gently on the concrete ground, he immediately raced out as soon he did. She stared shockingly at him _'He was messing with me the entire time...'_

* * *

"Bastard" Naruto called out. He looked behind him to see 3 Konoha shinobi chasing him across the roof tops. One of them was an Uchiha, the one who fired the Fire style jutsu at them. Only Uchiha seemed to know that particular fire jutsu. He recognized the Uchiha from earlier today, the one that reminded him of Sasuke, now that he had a clearer view he could see a resemblance to Itachi. _'Could he be their future dad?' _He had short black hair, some bangs that hung on the side of his face. He was a jonin and looked to be about 20 years old. Naruto sighed, he would have loved to fight him. Except there was a fourth member who had raced off to alert more, and he was just a shadow clone. The original had given them the slip soon after they started chasing him. Luckily that guy did not have his sharingan activated, he wouldn't be able to differentiate his chakra whenever he returned to Konoha.

The original Naruto felt the memories of his shadow clone enter his as he ran through the dark forest, he knocked out the few patrols on the road, which didn't expect opposition from what they were trying to guard. _'He might be sasuke's dad huh?''._ He wished he was able to see their faces when they saw it was only a shadow clone, he frowned at his next thought, shaking his head at what they did. _'Did they not see her at all?'_ He asked himself. They had tried to kill him but it would have seriously hurt her as well. Not even when he raced out of the alley way did they even check up on her. _"_What happened to watching out for comrades?!" He angrily asked himself. He calmed down, convincing himself that they didn't see her, not matter how much of a long-shot it was. He didn't want to acknowledge the Konoha shinobi would ever do something like that. The rain kept pouring down. _'They won't be able to find my scent...'_. As he raced towards where Yahiko and Konan. It's been a few hours since he had left. _I didn't even find Iruka-sensei's Hitai-ate...'_He sighed in exasperation. He shifted the bag on his back. _'At least I was able to get some jutsu...'_As he continued through the forest to join the ame orphans.

* * *

**A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. It really helps.**

**What do you think of Mikoto so far, it's a start of something, I guess.**

**1. Iaijutsu is basically quick drawing a blade.**


	4. Dreams

** Chapter 4 Dreams**

**A/N: I've not decided on the pairing yet... But one thing for sure that both girls will have influence on Naruto romantically. I want a single pairing, but also want two of them as well. It's a harsh decision, So let's see who he ends up with shall we? Is it one of them?...I don't know, maybe he'll end up with both of them.**

* * *

"Menma" Konan called out to the sleeping individual on the ground. Who had no sleeping bag with him. Instead he simply wore a black hooded cloak, he snored loudly while he slept. He seemed to muttering a few incoherent phrases.

"Someone say ramen?" Naruto immediately woke up, his eyes still closed as he sat up and yawned loudly. She heard distinctive noises of sniffing as his tried to locate any trace of the supposed ramen. "I don't smell any ramen..." As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. She giggled, along with a hearty chuckle from the orange haired boy. Konan felt a grin tug on her lips and the boy who already introduced himself as Yahiko to her did as well.

"I said Menma, not ramen" Konan giggled once again.

"Oh" Naruto felt disappointed. No doubt they heard it too as both the Ame orphans chuckled.

"What's up!" The orange haired boy asked. "I think it's time we introduce ourselves properly " He smiled. Extending a hand towards Naruto, who helped him out from the stone cold ground of the tiny cave they were in. "Name's Yahiko" He extended another hand, this time to return a handshake.

Konan watched in interest as the boys she both met yesterday shared a handshake. Both had a similar smile present on their faces - a wide and enthusiastic grin. "Menma" The black haired happily replied. She noted their appearance, you could almost pass them for twin brothers. Although with different colored hair, they shared the same spiky hair with blue eyes, same height and with similar ages.

"Menma huh? Well I came up with something for you for helping me"

"What's that?" The black haired asked.

"Well It's actually to the both of you" He mentioned to her and Menma, she saw Menma sport an interested expression, waiting for him to continue which she shared. "We'll watch out for other!"He proclaimed. "We'll be friends that will ah... Watch out for each other...and stuff, and have...each others back" She struggled to form the sentence, he didn't seem to be good with speeches. Konan could see that he believed in what he had though, she giggled. Yahiko had a angry expression on his face as she turned to glare at her.

"It's just...That what's Menma had said to me" She explained to him before he could throw accusations. "Except...Better" She giggled once more, seeing a stunned expression on him as he turned to face Menma.

"I think we'll be great friends Yahiko!" Menma shouted happily. Konan nodded with him in agreement.

* * *

Mikoto Uchiha lied on her sleeping bag, her tent was-along with other shinobi- located in the market district. All the stands had been taken down, with the food stored away. Her tent was small, barely large enough to sit in. It was made to fit a single shinobi along with the gear they had possessed. She thought about yesterday's events, She felt entirely confused as to what she was supposed to feel. That boy she had fought with...Had completely held back on her. She had reported their brief skirmish with their Jonin-commander that had led their group, along with several others like Fugaku Uchiha and another one who had been taken out. Apparently, the blue-eyed boy had easily escaped them with a shadow clone, fooling one of their prodigies. Fugaku, the upcoming heir to the uchiha clan.

She felt uneasy...Because he had been holding back in their fight, simply toying with her. She could have easily been killed by him, except he hadn't. Instead she was saved from being possibly scarred by Fugaku's jutsu. _'What a dick...'_ She thought. _'He knew I was there...'_She wished they would drop the 'Succeed the mission at any cost' thing many Konoha shinobi had, which was one the Uchiha clan followed along with the 'Clan first'. Destroying the enemy was the primary mission, to win the war. She was glad that Minato and Kushina followed the 'Comrades 1st missions 2nd' mentality, along with the 3rd hokage. Everyone was getting tired of this war, but no one knew when it would end. Someone named 'Shimura' had apparently started this thing to spiral out of control. Mission success rate had gone up, with the added effect of more fatalities. Which was something she wasn't eager to join the list of that.

Another thing was that he had also immensely enjoyed their skirmish together above the roof top. Which confused her as she didn't see or hear any indication that he was being condescending, or mocking whatsoever. Just...Enjoyment _'Who was that guy?...'_She asked herself. She shivered at what she was told this morning. There was no infiltrators that were found, no POW's that had escaped, and not any of the few civilians that were left behind knew anything. Plenty of blank scrolls were missing, along with some poor fella's bag. A scent that belonged to no one was present, untraceable of course. The entire town had been on lock down alert, no one was found leaving or entering the village.

Except for one boy who had left, the one she had fought. No one saw him enter and he had completely rendered dozens of chuunin, genin and even several jonin unconscious. Which sounded impossible. Except for a shadow clone user, which she had found out. _'No one could taken out so fast, unless he made dozens of shadow clones' _She couldn't deny that she was impressed, he was a ninja and an experienced one, she didn't even see him do any sort ninjutsu in their scuffle either. She gulped with a little fear. _'He could have killed so many single-handedly...Me as well..He made this entire company look like fools...'_

"Mikoto?"

"What?"

"Can I ask your help for something" Mikoto noisily climbed out of her tent. She stood up to see a Akira, older but still fairly small with the same height as her. She was fairly plain looking with short blonde hair that reached her shoulders, she wore a chuunin vest with dark blue pants. She was part of the squad she was assigned too. An acquaintance to Mikoto to say the least.

"What for?" She asked.

"Help find my bag at that...uh lost items thingy or whatever" She explained. Mikoto was sorely tempted to turn her down. Except one of Kushina's last words were '_find some damn friends' _and Akira was only one of the only people who would approach her other than her fellow Uchiha. Mikoto knew many of the the sharingan clan, but she didn't want to associate with many of them because of their arrogance.

"Sure lead the way, I need to find my Katana anyway" Items were occasionally lost whenever there's a skirmish. So at the end of the battle there will always be a lost and found tent stationed near HQ, in case someone loses something valuable.

"Thanks" She happily replied. They walked together towards the church. She had lost her Katana when she was being pulled away by him, it must have flown quite the distance if she couldn't find it nearby the roof they had fought. "So did you hear that one guy knocked out our sentries yesterday?" She asked. Mikoto turned to look at her.

"Yea...I actually fought him" She replied, she waited for her usual response.

"Oh, How did it go? how did he look like? How old was he? Was he cute?" She asked excitedly. She shook her head at her predicable question. They haven't known each other for long but Akira did like to talk about boys. _'At least she's competent enough'._

"Why are you asking about that? He was the enemy" Mikoto acclaimed. She was waved off by her, which made her slightly frustrated.

"Whatever...He can't be that bad if he decided to spare all those shinobi" Akira reasoned. Oddly, Mikoto had to agree with her as she remembered yesterday's events. She didn't even feel in danger while they fought, he hadn't really retaliated against her.

"He was really good..." She replied. As they walked past several shinobi going on their way. Akira looked at her curiously, seeing an odd expression. "He just played with me like we were supposed to have fun while we fought, he was smiling the entire time..." She sighed in frustration and embarrassment, the only thing that made her feel better was that one uchiha had been knocked out by him and Fugaku had been fooled. She was still proud and admitting it had landed a small blow to her ego, but she felt some weight go off.

"So...What does he look like...?" Mikoto scoffed.

"I'm not talking to you about that" She berated her, prompting a pout from the blonde. _'Although his eyes...'_ They reached the tent , it was small compared to the other tents but it still was still several meters long. They reached inside to find various types of items on tables and under them, organized in piles and separated into differences of items; Bags; weapons, pouches, personal items. "So what does your bag look like?" She asked.

"I don't know" Akira said. She saw a look of disbelief on Mikoto's face. "What? I just got that bag, there's supposed to be a tag inside that has my name" As she went to look for her bag.

"You're so forgetful "Mikoto sighed. She had already seen her blade and went over to a table to pick it up, she inspected to see if any damages were on it. _'I'll have to clean it when I get back...'_She sheathed the katana and dragged herself to the tables that had several bags.

"So Mikoto...Any ideas for the future?" Akira asked. She thought about it while she looked through a bag. She wondered what kind of future did shinobi had she couldn't really think of much.

"Not really...Just be a excellent kunoichi" She replied. '_For my village...or for my clan?'_ She sorted through another bag. "You?" She asked, just to be polite.

"I...Would like to have a family one day" Mikoto was a bit surprised by this.

"But you're only 16"She stated. Which she only returned with a shrug. She tossed another bag out of the way.

"Hey, I said the future not right now" She replied. "Perhaps a few years from now" She nodded. Even if she had only participated for only 1 year, Mikoto was tired of this war, which had been going on for years already. She felt something like metal on her hand as she set the bag up. Looking inside at the tag, she froze. She looked thoroughly to the tag once again, making she read correctly.

"Uzumaki?" She whispered, there wasn't any first name. _'But the Uzumaki clan were wiped out in the beginning of the war'_ She only knew one Uzumaki, which was Kushina, and she had said that she was the last one in the village. She looked peeked what was inside. Some scrolls were at the top, she searched the side pockets to where she felt the metal piece. Taking it out she found a Konoha hitai-ate. _'Huh?..' _There was no way Kushina was here. It was stitched on a long piece of black cloth.

"Found it!" Akira called out. Taking out a bag for the world to see. Mikoto quickly put the item back inside the black bag and zipped it up. _'Gotta show this to Kushina' _As far she knew, there was no Uzumaki in the battalion she was assigned with.

* * *

Naruto walked alongside Konan and Yahiko on the road heading deeper into the country. The eternal rain gently falling down. _'Alright...Now we just need to find Nagato_' He had Yahiko lead the way on where they should go, since he had no idea where he was anyway. He didn't want to miss Nagato either if he had taken charge.

"Menma?" He heard the blue haired girl ask. They walked on a common road, occasionally passing by other refugees.

"Hmm? What's up?" Turning towards the younger girl. It felt a bit weird to be stuck in a body of a 13 year old. He was supposed to have towered over her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah yeah, friends are supposed to know each other y'know. So ask anything you want" He told her, he saw her nod.

"Oh ok, well I want to know...What is your dream, what do you want be?" He smiled widely at her. Yahiko listened intently, no doubt eager to share his dream as well.

"That's easy!" Bringing his fist up "Except it's not a dream!" He chuckled. "I'm going to bring peace to this war filled world of ours!" Naruto proclaimed.

"What! You stole my idea!" Yahiko yelled out, Naruto looked at him with a smile that Yahiko shared. "I like it!"

"Well then...I guess that makes us partners huh?" Naruto replied.

"Yeah!" Yahiko slammed a fist into his palm. Konan looked at both of them for a moment.

"You guys want to bring peace?" Konan asked, bringing both boys to look at her. They both nodded enthusiastically. "But won't that be...I don't know, Hard?"

"Yeah sure but... I think... well, we'll figure-" Yahiko stammered before Naruto interfered.

"What he means that there's no way in hell we'll ever give up!" Naruto proclaimed. " Whatever the obstacle, No matter what, I'll never give up on that! Nothing's ever easy! I'll die trying if I have too!" Konan looked in wonder at the black haired boy. "If I got friends who have my back, then there's no way I'm going to fail!" He yelled out.

"Yeah!" Yahiko agreed. '_Damn...He's much better at this than I am...'_ There was no way Yahiko would admit that though. _'I'm supposed to say all that cool stuff...'_

Konan looked at her two new friends, looking into their eyes. She saw the determined look in them, they fiercely believed in their words. _'Maybe...I could help them'_ She had no dreams of the sort, no ambitions she had wanted to fulfill. The only thing that had filled her mind daily was how to survive the next day. The way Menma had spoken, she felt like it would be possible and she wanted to be a part of it. "Then...I'll help too" Konan shouted. Both of them turned to smile at her, with the same grin." It will be my dream as well"

"All right!" Both Yahiko and Menma yelled in unison.

* * *

Naruto sat himself on the dirt, his back against the wall. They were under the cover of a rock side cliff to protect themselves from the rain. Yahiko and Konan slept soundly once more, under the covers of their sleeping bags. They were still civilians, they couldn't sustain themselves forever like a trained shinobi can. Besides, Naruto was an Uzumaki and he was already told that he had limitless stamina. The town they were heading was still days away, by walking at least. Yahiko had recommended that they try to get as far away from the warzones as possible. Something he obviously agreed with, he didn't want to miss Nagato. Naruto decided that he would check out the Jutsu scrolls he copied yesterday. He dug into his bag to take out the scrolls and quickly checked through them.

_Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets, B-rank, Offensive, Short to Mid range, Rat → Rabbit → Dog_

He frowned as he read it, it had the potential to pierce flesh. He wasn't entirely keen on fatal Jutsu, but he might as well learn it, just in case. If he ever had to kill someone to protect someone, he would do it but only as a last resort. He looked over to the two orphans and sighed, he had no other friends now, all were taken in by the infinite tsukuyomi. He returned to his reading.

_Wind Style: Gale Palm, C-rank, Offensive, Supplementary, Short to Mid range. _

It didn't have any hand signs other than clapping hands together to release the Jutsu. It wasn't fatal, unless complimented with shuriken or the like. It would be great for throwing someone off balance. Naruto had sort of became a pacifist, although he enjoyed sparing, he did not want to kill needlessly. Killing wouldn't get him closer to achieving world peace.

_Wind Style: Great Breakthrough C-Rank, Offensive, Short to mid range, Tiger → Ox → Dog → Rabbit → Snake_

It would create large hurricane like blast of winde, capable of destroying large trees and such. "Damn it" He stated. "Where's all the cool Jutsu?" He thought they would at least at some A-rank techniques. _'Maybe the cooler ones were somewhere else'_. He read the last wind style scroll, which detailed adding wind manipulation to shuriken, it was slightly different from adding it to kunai. He put the scrolls back in the bag to train for another time, he decided to do that same with the fuinjutsu scrolls as well. Reminded from the scroll, He pulled out a his own Kunai from his tool pouch, it was unique to say the least. A tri pronged kunai, a present from his father. He inspected it, the Hiraishin seal that was present on the handle. He didn't know the Jutsu of course, but it was something to remember his father by, of his goals here. "At least I still have this..." He was still disappointed that he had lost Iruka's head band.

_"You ready to go?" Minato asked. Naruto nodded, taking a deep breath at the sudden surge of power now that the full power of Kurama entailed. He looked at his dad , his edo tensei eyes still present. Like him, Minato had been able to escape with the help of Kurama._

_"Yeah..." Naruto sighed loudly. He looked at the black hair that hung just above his eyes. He picked up the bag at his feet. Kurama had said that they might end up a few months before he attacks. His dad had suggested he bring a few jutsu to learn just in case. The side of effects of performing the jutsu was unknown, since immense chakra was needed. He didn't know if he would appear weeks or months away from the attack._

_ "Cheer up Naruto...After all, you are my son right?" Naruto managed to smile. His failure still kept hungering over him. He couldn't save his friends._

_"I won't fail this time" Naruto replied. _

_"That's more like it" Minato looked at his son. He closed his eyes and slightly smiled at him. "Now...There's something I want to give you"_

_"Huh?"_

_"Here" He handed him one of his special Kunai, it's handle facing toward him. "It's a bit heavy, and unconventional but it's incredibly sturdy, built to last" Naruto slowly took grasped the handle of the 3 pronged Kunai. It's grip was larger than ordinary kunai and it had a faint yellow color to it. _

_"Thanks...Dad"_

He had left soon after, Minato didn't belong to the world anymore. He desired to be with his wife, Kushina. He had left knowing the world would be good in Naruto's hands. He thought about the first fight he had with it, he slightly smiled at the spar._ 'Plus she was pretty...'_. The sharingan girl he fought a top a roof, although short it gave a peculiar feeling. "Why did that feel so Nostalgic?" It reminded him of the fight above the hospital roof with Sasuke. Although with much less arrogance than what Sasuke showed. He was glad there was at least some Uchiha who weren't total dicks. Prompted by this, he remembered some of the moments of when he fought alongside Sasuke against Obito. He shook his thoughts away. _'I shouldn't be thinking about the past...err, I guess the future...No that won't happen...Damn it's confusing'_ He decided to just call it a night and pulled his hood over his head to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Also there won't be much Konan fluff... for now at least, until they grown up more.**

**Why?...Because she's 11**

**Ages of characters so far:**

**Naruto: 13**

**Mikoto 15**

**Konan:11**

**Yahiko:13**


	5. A Little Push

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: right... Mikoto is now 14, she was originally. A long wait for a short chapter...Writer's block is such a pain.**

**Some time skips in this chapter**

* * *

_Naruto walked ahead, he saw the many shinobi that had been caught in the tsuki no me. Many had emotionless expressions, he couldn't do anything to help them. Amongst them, the kages of the elemental nations, including all of his friends. Some of them even had some smiles on their faces and they lived in their fake world. Naruto fell down on his knees, the red glow of the moon shone down on the earth. Puddle formed from all around, the rain and water jutsu and blood from fallen ninja littered the land, the tiny pools reflected it's blood red glow. "I couldn't do anything...Damn it!" He repeatedly slammed his fist into the wet rocks and dirt. He screamed in agony of his failures as the wounds in his knuckles repeatedly healed itself. _

_He fell down on his side after a while. His fist felt incredibly numb from the abuse. What was the use of living, if everything else is basically dead. He couldn't get the faces of Hinata, Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke and everyone else out of his mind. He had to do something, but he couldn't move at all. He realized he hadn't had any sleep in the longest time, that he had fought with everything he had today and it didn't matter at all in the end. As soon as he closed his eyes he fell in dark restless sleep._

Naruto eyes flitted open. He met the darkness of the cave they slept in, some light of a lantern faintly revealing the cave they were in. He heard the pitter-patter of the rain hitting the stones outside. He sat and took in his surroundings; He sat on a small worn mattress for one, he looked to his right to see Yahiko and Konan sleeping on their own mattress. They found the cave they slept in and at Yahiko's suggestion, they planned to make it their little 'home'. They had reached town a day ago and Naruto had used up most of the money buying supplies. He was questioned by Konan about how he had gotten the money, which Yahiko had replied for him that he had no doubt had gotten it by stealing. Now his precious gama-chan was nearly empty after buying the supplies.

Fairly soon he they would have to resort to stealing, he would gladly do it to protect and help them. He took a look at orange haired boy. Naruto had found out that he was raised as a merchant son that traveled frequently, hence his knowledge of the landscape and towns. His father had been killed last year from a desperate individual who was starving. _'These wars... are horrible...'_ He stood up and walked over to the a little package in the corner on the cave, he grabbed the package and pulled out a small portable stove. He installed the fuel and began to prepare some food for everyone else.

* * *

"Menma?" He heard a tired voice from behind him. He almost ignored it, because to him, he was still calling himself Naruto as well as Kurama. It certainly was confusing. _'I'm I Menma now?' _He liked it sure, but Naruto was his real name. He wondered...if one day if he should reveal where he had come from. To someone at least. He wasn't sure if he would be believed, even he thought it was crazy. He turned around to see the indigo haired girl wipe the sleep from her eyes as she sat up.

"Hey Konan" She didn't wear a coat anymore, now that they were inside and away from the rain. He found out that she wore a plain pale pink long sleeve shirt with blue pants.

"What's that? It's smells good"

"It's breakfast" He replied. It was very simple breakfast; Some eggs, cheese and some toast with some butter. Sure it wasn't extravagant, but it was certainly better than what they had eat to get here. It was a hot dinner, something that was miles better than the cold canned soup they had, along with the wet bread and soggy rice balls. It certainly had gotten chilly in the morning. Konan yawned as she covered herself with her blankey and walked over to where he sat. A large flat rock was used as a table that Naruto had gotten from outside, it was still slightly wet from the rain. It was supported by other flat rocks so it reached his shin. It sat a meter away from the entrance in their small cave. From the entrance their supplies would be kept to the right, and they would sleep on the left side of the cave.

He was still in the middle of cooking the rest of breakfast, as he still had to cook for one more person. Konan had joined him and sat across from him on their improvised table. He heard the loud snoring of Yahiko in the room as he cracked an egg open and heard the sizzling as went on the pan. The stove itself was on the floor beside the stone to make room for their plates "You know how to cook?" Konan asked.

"Yup" He replied, not as loud as usual since Yahiko was still asleep.

"Could I have some?" He saw a hungry look in her eyes as she eyed a plate of food on the rock table. He thought about it for a moment, Yahiko looked like he would still be out of it for a while.

"Sure, I'll join you y'know" He flipped the egg as he grabbed his plate. He brought the stove to a lower heat so that he eat more comfortably. He brought out forks for them both and they each grabbed their own. "Itadakimasu" He saw a quick stunned look on her face but she quickly joined him.

"Itadakimasu" He resisted trying to gobble up the food as quickly as he could. He sliced a piece of egg and he savored the heat it gave off.

"It's good!" Konan chirped gleefully. As she took in another bite happily.

"I'm glad you like it" He smiled widely at her. They ate in silence for a bit, the only sounds were from the rain, forks lightly scrapping on plastic plates and along with Yahiko's loud snoring.

"It's been a long time since I had some hot food" She commented. She was nearly finished her plate. Naruto noticed she had said it a bit depressingly.

"Well... Now we're going to have a lot of hot food now" He replied. Which prompted a happy smile from Konan.

"Umm... Can you teach me how to cook?" She asked rather shyly. Naruto looked up at her and he quickly wiped off the surprise on his face. _'She was never taught by her parents... and she never had the chance to teach herself'_

"Of course!" He nodded furiously. "In fact, I'll show you right now"

"Huh?" He ushered her to join him. "Right now?"

"Yeah, come on" Konan quickly stood up and went around the 'table' and sat herself right beside him. With a spatula he quickly took a slightly burnt egg from the small pan and placed it on a spare plate. He left the heat where it was, since it was her first time trying to cook.

"So, um- what do we do?" She asked,

"Well put some butter on the pan with this kunai" He let her handle his father's kunai. "That's too much...Yup that's okay" she put the butter on the pan and it started to melt.

"What does the butter really do?" as she eyed the melting butter curiously.

"Well... It doesn't make the food stick to the pan and it can make food taste better" She nodded in understanding and the butter started to sizzle. He took an egg from a carton, it wouldn't last long without a refrigerator, so they would have to eat it before rots. He handed her the egg "Here, make it crack on the pan"

"How?"

"Like this" He mentioned with his hands- an imaginary egg - on the edge of the pan. "And then when it cracks, you split the egg with your fingers" Completing his explanation.

"Right... I'll try" She shakily brought the egg over the edge of the pan and brought it down, with too much force. The shell broke and the yolk came spilling out on stove. "Oh no!" She slightly shrieked in terror.

"Hey don't worry about it, just try again" He tried to reassure her. He tried to hand her a another egg. Which was met with another shake of her head.

"No, I'll just mess up again..." She replied dejectedly. "We need to save our food..."

"Hmm? Then how are you supposed to learn how to cook huh?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know...I guess-"

"Listen... I messed up a lot when I learned how to cook, you'll get better ... I promise" He smiled at her. "You'll be so good, there won't be any more mistakes..."

"Okay...If you say so" She took the egg once more.

"Here's a easier way, break the shell over the pan with the kunai" She followed his advice and she lightly celebrated when she had done it properly. After all, she still was a child despite the situation she was put it. She was told they would have to wait a little while it cooked, and she bounced excitedly, impatient for her chance to flip it. He was patient with her as she repeatedly said 'Can I do it now?_'_ only for him to shake his head. After the next few minutes he checked it "Now you can do it" Which she immediately went to do, and she clumsily flipped it and it folded a bit.

"How did you even make toast?" as she looked around for a toaster, they didn't even have any power.

"With this" He showed her a metallic can, both with the top and bottom torn out. Some wire was wrapped around the top. He removed the pan and replaced it with the can. "Just put some bread and it will be toast soon enough. She watched in fascination as he flipped it the other side. "There...Now breakfast for Yahiko is done, so let's wake him up"

* * *

"So Menma" He heard Yahiko call out. They were on their way back from town, after securing a couple more supplies. A week more and his money would run out. Konan wasn't in their small trek as she had decided to stay behind and make their cave a little more tidy. So now he walked on a wet gravel road that led to it. They were sort of on a rocky area, a cliff face was on his left while a drop with a large clearing was to his left. The clearing had some rock pillars springing out from the ground.

"What's up?" he replied to the orange haired guy beside him. He had his water proof cloak on as he carried a small pack on him.

"If you could never bring up what happened back there, it would be pretty sweet"

"Yeah sure, no problem" He chuckled as he remembered, what happened just before they left to return to their cave. They walked in a companionable silence for a little while before Yahiko spoke up once again.

"So I've been thinking..." As he scratched his chin in a contemplative manner. Naruto waited for him to continue. "About how we're going to achieve peace"

"Yeah, and what do you got?"

"Well obviously we're going to need Shinobi training right?"

"Yeah of course, I mean how are we going to change the world if we can't stop wars?" Naruto added.

"Exactly... Now how are we supposed to be trained?" Naruto opened his mouth to say that he would gladly train them. But he needed to get to Konoha, and Jiraiya was a easy pass to it. It was the safest way to it without arousing any suspicion. He couldn't just leave them behind either, Nagato still had yet to show up. Then again, Obito was in the Konoha but Madara was still in hiding. Now if only he had known where he had hid himself so he could get rid of him.

"Well... We can find a strong Shinobi who can teach us when all this is over" He suggested.

"Yeah... I think you're right, or when we see someone strong" Yahiko added. Which Naruto agreed with. They started to near the entrance of the cave. "So... Whenever we start our little group of world domination to achieve peace...who do you think should... I dunno, let's say- be the leader?"

"That's easy, all of us should be the leaders, you, me, Konan... like a... Co-kages! So that's when nothing will be a problem, and that we won't make any mistakes!" He yelled out. Yahiko looked at him for a moment, he felt his shoulders deflate a little.

"Yeah, I was gonna say that- Just wanted to know if you got the same idea..." He tried to say convincingly. The black haired boy just nodded in agreement along with a smile. _'I could've came up with that... I would've just needed more time'_ he crossed his arms while he nodded to himself. "You're pretty cool Menma, you got my respect" He added.

"Thanks! You're pretty cool too Yahiko!"

* * *

_'I wonder when Nagato is going to show up...'_ He thought absentmindedly as he showed Konan how to cook some soup. "Okay... So add the tomatoes now" She picked up the tiny cutting board filled with diced tomatoes and dropped into the soup. They had been here for 4 weeks now, their supply of food they had bought with his money was now depleted. It seemed his train of thought was similar to Yahiko.

"Now we gotta steal!" The orange haired yelled out. He sat himself down next to the table. "It's the only way"

"Really?" Konan asked. She looked towards Menma.

"I think so too... I mean we even tried to look for jobs, I couldn't find any" Naruto said. He knew it was inevitable, along with Yahiko, they tried to at least find something. No matter how hopeless it was. It didn't bother Naruto at all, not when it concerned his friends. " I mean, If we're going to be strong Shinobi, We gotta eat right y'know?!" He heard some deep amused laughter from the being within him.

**"That's pretty funny coming from you Naruto, you ate ramen all your life... You can't lie, you pretty much ate solely ramen"** Kurama chuckled some more. By sheer will alone, Naruto resisted blowing up at him. It was true, even while with Jiraiya he hardly went a day without some ramen.

_"Whatever... Things will be different now"_

"Now you're thinking" Yahiko said. Dragging him back to reality and not in the sewer whenever he talked to Kurama, hardly any time had passed at all. "This war had taken everything from us, it's only right that we take some of it back right? and about that, is that soup almost ready? I'm starving"

"I think so..." Konan gave a questioning look to Naruto.

"Yeah almost" As he checked the soup himself. A small comfortable silence overcame the three orphans. They sat and listened to the rain and most importantly, the boiling soup. Naruto wondered about his name, his identity now. He had told them his name was Menma. _'I'm I never to be called Naruto again?'_

"**Well I'll still call you Naruto...Menma..." **Kurama joked. A light chuckled escaping.

**_'_**_...Thanks..." _ He said sarcastically. He didn't think he would be handle keeping a secret if it wasn't for Kurama. At least he was still called Naruto by one person, someone he trusted with his life. He peeked at two people he called his friends. _'Perhaps I can tell them one day... just not anytime soon'._

"Man having some friends is awesome!" Yahiko yelled out. Which prompted Naruto to chuckle.

"It is right?" He gestured to Konan

"Yes of course" She happily nodded.

"So uh, Menma" He mentioned for him to continue. "Don't mean to pry or anything, but about your past? Where do you come from?" Yahiko asked. At the request of Kurama, he had to make a back story for himself.

"I guess I'm sort of like you, I traveled with some old guy" Naruto said, Both of the orphans listened intently. "I guess you call him my god father since he knew my dad since before he...y'know" They nodded in understanding.

"Were they shinobi?" Konan asked Naruto kept his alarm in check, he remembered Konan had saw him deflect those shuriken that were thrown at her. "Be-"

"The old man didn't teach me a anything really" He interrupted. He thought quickly of a distraction. "But this Kunai" He pulled out a the unique Kunai he was given before. " This one belonged to my dad, it's special to me" Yahiko leaned in to get a closer look as well as Konan.

"And you used it as a butter knife" Yahiko said slyly. A mischievous grin on his face.

"Yeah! So what if I did!" Konan giggled at his reaction.

"It's kind of disrespectful if you asked me" The orange haired boy continued, nodding to himself at his wisdom.

"Disrespectful? You're the one who peeped on those girls!" Naruto retorted.

"That was an accident! Why did you have to bring that up!?" He looked worriedly at Konan. She was much too amused at the two boys arguing with another to notice. She giggled some as they kept shooting shots at each other. _'I'm glad they are my friends'_ She felt her life take a sudden turn since she had met Menma. Both of the people she had met radiated positivity, the light heartedness was a contrast before the boy gave her food.

* * *

"What are you doing Menma?" Konan asked. He looked up from his practice to see Konan eyeing his writing curiously.

"I'm practicing my writing" He replied back to her and he continued from where he left off. There some stacks of blank paper on the large wooden crate where he practiced his calligraphy. They had removed their rock improvised table with a crate they had secured from behind a local shop. Him and Yahiko carried it from town while Konan rode inside. He sat down on smaller crate to be comfortable. Other than the paper the only thing left on the table was the lantern and ink.

"What for?" She asked while she sat down on another crate across from him.

"Hmm... Just to pass to the time, and make sure my writing doesn't suck" It was a mostly truthful answer. He was actually trying preparing for fuinjutsu, he needed precision...and his writing was god awful. Whenever he learned fuinjutsu, he might have to prepare a sealing in the middle of a fight if his pre-prepared seals were to get destroyed. Shadow clones might have greatly shortened the time to practice, but ink obviously didn't mix well with rain. So he was forced to practice it inside.

"Okay...Can I use some paper?" She asked. He nodded as he continued practicing. It was fairly late already and the clouds only heightened the darkness outside. He heard as she folded the paper repeatedly. "Yahiko is a lot like you did you know that?"

"Hmm?" Naruto looked up at her. Her attention was focused on what she was doing, he was curious as to what she was creating as she kept constantly folding the paper. "Really how?"

"You don't notice?

"Notice what?

"Both of you agree with a lot of things, you're a lot alike and even the way you guys look"

"I never noticed that, he's a pretty cool friend though" She nodded in agreement.

"He's not as a good talker though" He looked quizzically at her but she didn't elaborate. She pulled the paper she was playing with and hid it from his view. She smiled sweetly "I want to thank you Menma"

"What for?" She looked up and beamed at him. Naruto confusingly responded with one of his own smiles.

"Well you're my first friend obviously" She quickly focused back on her lap and he heard some paper being folded quickly. "I want to you give this" He then remembered that she had used paper in her jutsu, it was only when she pulled out a neat white paper crane was that he recalled their very brief encounter. She held it out to him.

"Wow that's pretty cool" As she took it from her. He carefully inspected the delicate origami piece.

"I'm glad you like it" She said happily. "I learned it from my mom..." He nodded at the information. He never really got any gifts before, other than his father, the only other thing he ever got from someone was from Hinata and Iruka. Some medicinal cream container that was lost from Pain's attack, and the Hitai-ate weeks before. He lost both of them now.

"Thank you" He replied. He wasn't going to lose a gift from a friend anytime soon.

* * *

Naruto lied down on his bed in the dark cave where his friends lived in. He closed in eyes and absently listened to the light patter of the rain outside. The repetitive and constant droplets hitting the ground seemed to have a soothing effect like a lullaby. He felt odd but pleasant tingles in his head. It had now been a 6 weeks since he had time traveled to this period, more than a month since he had failed all his friends. He was no longer known as Naruto Uzumaki, no one but the voice inside him knew him by that name now. Now it was simply Menma. He sighed sadly and he looked over to the Ame orphans. He truly would never be able to let go of the past, but perhaps he could take steps.

He liked his name, it was given to him by his parents. Except that name was a reminder of his failure's. Perhaps a new start was needed, he would likely never share that name to another person for many years. It wasn't confusing, at some moments whenever Yahiko or Konan had called his other name, he would have to remind himself that his name was Menma and he would finally turn his attention to them and excuse himself that he was spacing out.. In his mind, he was still referring to himself as Naruto. It was a restart, and he would take his father's last words to heart. He would see his friends once again, but they wouldn't be his friends again. _'Anything to protect them...'_ Once again he looked over to where Konan and Yahiko slept. _'I'll get new friends...'_It truly was a new start for him. Perhaps little by little, he would come to accept that. He sighed, and closed his eyes to wait for sleep to catch him. He decided to take a small step, one towards a new and better future.

'_Kurama?...'_

**_"What is it?...'_**

****"Call me Menma"

* * *

**A/N:So it won't be so confusing, Naruto is now Menma. Until, you know, he tells someone I guess.**


	6. promises

Off Track

Promises

* * *

Two months later

This scouting run had went terribly wrong. Not only were they cut off from the direction to their camp, but they were completely separated from one another. Mikoto didn't have a clue where the hell her other teammates were. She caught her breath as she kneeled on top of a tree branch. Perhaps these events wouldn't have happened if her scouting runs hadn't been pushed further beyond and more frequently, to ensure such a breach would never occur once again. _'Damn that guy...'_ Thinking of the blue eyed person she fought. _'If he hadn't...'_ She started to complain, before she berated herself that it wasn't exactly his fault. _'I can't blame others for my own misfortune'_ Although a shred of thought still remained, perhaps that if he hadn't infiltrated their camp and made a fool out of everyone, that they wouldn't be in this situation.

Their jonin commander had abandoned them, and had taken the map and compass that would make the trek back more safely and easier. They might have been able to find their way back by memory but they were being relentlessly chased by enemy shinobi. Their little scouting party had grown by two, a single genin and chuunin. One that Mikoto knew, Akira. They had grown a little closer in friendship in the month that they worked together. Despite their grown size, they were completely outmatch and outnumbered to compete with the enemy shinobi. They had been completely caught off guard and they had completely met with a fatality and her and two others were injured. They had encountered with another larger scouting force, or an infiltrating force, it didn't really matter at the moment. They had been cut off from their retreat toward their camp and their Jonin had left them for dead. She cursed her captain, wishing he would die a painful death.

Mikoto was finally able to catch her breath and decided to continue on before their sensory type shinobi had zoned in on her location. She wondered where the other two she was with had gone off to, and if they were still alive. Her eyes caught some movement behind the cover of leaves and she immediately threw some shuriken and prepared a few hand signs. "Whoa it's me!" Seeing a blur of movement fall from behind the cover. Her eyes quickly captured and recognized the person, she let out a sigh of relief. "You almost shot a fire style jutsu at me..." Akira said as she stood. Mikoto looked down below at the girl.

"Well... I either could've taken action, or die" She replied."I don't want to die" Mikoto confirmed her chakra with her sharingan, making sure it wasn't just some transformation.

"Right..."She replied, she took a few jumps to get on another branch.

"Where's Jiro?" The Uchiha asked. She saw her friend's shoulder's sag slightly, a sorrowful expression filled her. Another other chuunin and gone off on his own, no doubt hoping that the larger group of three would attract their attention. Mikoto was a little saddened over the death of a teammate, but also a little thankful that she didn't know him. This was no time for grieving, they had to escape. Now there was only her and Akira left to defend their selves "Let's go, we have to get out of here"

* * *

"Where the hell is Nagato?" Menma cursed. He jumped from the slippery branches of the trees. He yawned, he was hours away from sprinting distance from his friends. slipping away to try and find Nagato on his own. He had left on his little quest and had secured a map to find his way back and other potentials hotspots. The geography of Ame wasn't very large, the trek across from border to border could be made in most in one day or so. Except there was a war going on and there several sides of the war, so the travel would be much larger. He remembered Nagato saying that there was Konoha Shinobi that had killed his parents. He made the assumption that Nagato was somewhere either on the eastern or southern side since they controlled most of the country. "Why the hell does it never stop raining?" He complained. There was hardly any days when it didn't rain. The fighting didn't seem to go where they stayed, he assumed it was because that's where most of the shinobi of Ame were centered around. Hanzo was no doubt nearby where they stayed, knowing of how powerful he was. No doubt people were going to avoid them, but Hanzo was also trying to get the invaders out of the country.

He kept count of how long he had been here. 3 months and 2 weeks. Perhaps trying to forget the 'past' was a little harder than he thought. He was struggling with his new name, even Kurama on several occasions kept forgetting to refer him as Menma and not Naruto. He stopped for a moment and took out a map the was coat with plastic to make sure it wouldn't ruin. He recalled that the borders on the map was actually larger than before what he'd seen in his future. He quickly searched any nearby settlements, for any hint of where Nagato stayed. The good thing was there was no hint of Jiraiya or his teammates nearby, and there was no fights that Hanzo had participated in nearby. He folded the map and headed towards a nearby town to see if there was any trace of Nagato. He had sent several dozens of shadow clones to search for any trace of the rinnegan bearer. Although that was a while ago and they were beginning to disperse from lack of chakra.

Finding Nagato and making sure he would stay the path. That was detail that would set a small step in his plan. Kurama had said, that their plan would take years to accomplish. He had gone over a little with what they were going to do with Kurama. Such as, gathering the help of other Jinchuuriki's in their time. The help of the other Biju would be invaluable towards their goal of world peace. Except...There was going to be trouble when the 5 great elemental nations knew when their biju were disappearing. As he found out, biju were used as a deterrent to war. He heard explosions sound off in the distance, even if there was a war going on at the moment. He had felt some of the other biju's chakra far in the distance, farther down south and further in the north. Even Kurama's, or rather the one that was kept within his mother. _'How old's mom?_' He was feeling a little anxious of meeting her. Gathering the help of the other biju was a part of his plan. He wasn't entirely certain about when he was going to go about that though. The fox had said that he still contained the other Biju's chakra, which might a key to persuading them.

He wished he got concrete and accurate information, instead of guessing the time of which events occurred. Naruto- _'Menma'_ He corrected. Thought if he knew every single thing, of the personal history of everyone of his friends. He would have done everything he could have to help them. He had some passing knowledge of the ninja wars, but he didn't expect to come this far. Kurama had told him he might have come at least within a few months before, not more than a decade. He had taken a look at the current year, he was twelve years in the past before he was born and when Obito had attacked Konoha. _'A dozen years..' _It felt so far away. He didn't have a clue what would change when he caught up with that time.

He shook away those far away thoughts, he still had to focus on finding Nagato. Which required his immediate attention. He didn't think that he would actually find him, perhaps if he had Sage mode. He was feeling a little restless over not doing anything for the past two months. Shadow clones weren't a preferable method, just past memories, he wanted the 'now' moments. So he left a shadow clone with the Ame orphans, it was a little weird...He was one himself according to his made up history. An outsider who settled within Ame with his godfather.

He felt the memories of a shadow clone coming into his head. "Huh?" he looked over towards the direction where the clone went. Northwest to where he stood now, deciding to take a look he quickly sped towards that direction. Feeling several more pop in his head, he made more shadow clones to continue on searching.

* * *

"Just run Akira..." Mikoto replied tiredly to her. Still sprinting with her. They had been running for several minutes, and she started to feel her wet clothes starting to get heavy. "I'll hold them back..." Truthfully... She thought about leaving her behind, several times in fact. All to save her own skin. Except she carried a conscience, she would be a hypocrite if she did the same as her 'comrades'. She didn't think she could ever face Kushina if she ever did something like that. They had finally been able to get back to the general direction towards their camp but had walked into a trap. She thought that it was clear exit, but rock ninja seemed to be incredibly good at hiding their presence. They had been able give them the slip, mostly unharmed. She felt the searing hot gash that ran across her cheek, hot blood struggling to gush out and covered only by a ripped out cloth. The other cuts and aches that she felt was relatively minor compared to it.

"I can't leave you behind..." She heard her whine. Mikoto was a little glad about that, perhaps that not all people did hate the Uchiha's arrogance. Perhaps she did find a friend afterall.

"You do see me bleeding right?" She retorted. She was no medical ninja but even she knew at the pace she was going, she would pass out from blood loss if she couldn't stop the bleeding. That would take time, which they didn't have. She was still a little thankful that her eye didn't get hit by the Kenjutsu user, who was more experienced than her. If she survived today, she would a nasty scar under her right eye. She still felt the adrenaline pumping through her, her heart pumping desperately. That wasn't a good thing, sprinting didn't help either. "If we continue like this... I'm still a goner without someone staying back" Feeling the sticky blood on her hand, she felt it was time to change her hasty bandage.

"Then I'll stay back" She was a little touched once again, but she had to be realistic.

"You know how that'll end...I'm much better than you, I can hold them off longer with my eyes too" She argued.

"But-"

"They're catching up, pretty soon they'll get both of us" Mikoto replied. "You go...I'll stay behind" She stopped her sprinting and came to a halt. Akira quickly realized this and stopped a few meters in front. "I can't let a non-Uchiha show me up" She joked. Although the manner came off more seriously. Although he sharingan user would honestly feel a little insulted if she allowed her to do it.

"Are you sure?..." The blond asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, just go before I change my mind" Mikoto turned around to face where the Shinobi would come from. She tried to recall how many shinobi that were giving chase, seven if she counted right, three had been taken down. They had lost four men, perhaps that if their Jonin hadn't left them for dead they might've had a chance. "Just tell Kushina that I made her proud okay?" She added. The raven haired individual had told a little of her friend, her best friend. It was the only thing she had to say, there wasn't quite enough time for last words.

"...Okay..." She heard some rustling and the receding steps over the sound of the falling rain. Perhaps some of the rock ninja would chase after her, or not. A powerful Kekkei Genkai would probably be desirable for them, they would take measures to ensure her capture, a lowly clan less shinobi was meek compared to her. She still couldn't hold back her shiver of disgust at the thought of being captured. There was no way that she would be subject to that or anything of that potential. It would bring eternal shame to her clan, allowing another village to capture her precious eyes. They weren't like the Hyuuga clan; so terrified and unsure of themselves that they had to take measures for their eyes to not be captured. No, she would destroy her own eyes and kill herself before she allowed that to happen. It was expected of her and all Uchiha in the clan.

She dug into her tool pouch and brought out a bandage. She ripped a part of her long sleeve and replaced the blood soaked one on her wound. She quickly tightly tied the bandage around her face to help around the still bleeding gash, so she wouldn't have to hold it anymore. She felt a little light headed over her blood-loss, but she forced herself to concentrate on buying time. She activated her eyes to quickly take heed of surroundings to help formulate her plan. Several meters to her left led to a small lake, about several hundred meters in diameter. She stood within the forest, while she might've used it for her own advantage is they did have a sensory type ninja. The skill level of their sensory was an unknown. To her left led to a deeper part of the forest, if she simply relocated they would still give chase to both of them. She had to make her stand here. She started throwing kunai tied with paper bombs amongst the trees. She worked quickly and desperately, making sure that she used all she had in her inventory.

Satisfied when her hasty plan, she quickly made her way onto the lake. She had to lure the pursuing group into a open place. They couldn't take cover, but she couldn't either. It was far too dangerous for numerous amounts of cover, it would be easier for them to capture her. In the open ground and with her eyes she would be able to keep track of them, and to lower the possibility of that happening. She felt a trail of heat on her cheek, she attempted to lower the rate of her heart. It hadn't been that long since she stayed behind, but it certainly felt like time had slowed to a crawl. From the earlier scuffles and running, she felt her chakra reserves were only about a third of their usual strength, she would have to make them count.

She thought about her regrets...What did she have planned for a future? She was only fourteen after all, her birthday three months away. The war made her mature faster, like what it did for everyone around her age. All she thought about was to serve her clan and village. It was a unrealistic to hope for a miracle. _'A family...'_ She guessed that's what she desired later in life, to stay at home and care for her children. Perhaps another Uchiha, or someone strong to ensure their protection. That's what Kushina wanted for herself, to be happy. Perhaps that's what she desired mostly, merely happiness and from whatever form it took. Mikoto chuckled in amusement, It's what most normal people wanted. Wars didn't accomplish that, it was easy to see that. She guessed to find happiness in her life, she would actually have to survive here. Stall them, and then make a desperate run for it. She would have to make an opening.

Her eyes captured movement in the trees, hiding behind trunks and the like. She waited to confirm the amount. She only saw four of them, either the others were out of sight behind the trees or they were the rest were a part of a backup unit in case all of them were caught in a trap. She easily dodged a few shuriken and kunai thrown her way and quickly activated the paper bombs in the trees. She heard the faint sizzling within the trees, no doubt they could hear it too. She went through hand signs and heard some explosions sound in the tree line. The paper bombs were lined in a boxed pattern to force them out of the trees, with a few a inside the square. A field would have been more preferable but she had to make do with the lake instead. She saw five ninja appear from out of the trees as she finished her hand signs. "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" She felt the heat of forming ball of fire as it sped towards the ninja still in the air. She aimed towards a clutter of three ninja, she made it larger than usual and felt the drain.

One of them was able to trail out of the way without any assistance. Her eyes caught one of them trying to using the substitution jutsu to escape. He disappeared and last one, a kunoichi was too slow and was caught in the blaze and thrown back into the forest. While this was occurring she threw some shuriken at the other shinobi in the chaos. The experienced ones easily deflected them with their own thrown shuriken or with a handled Kunai. Mikoto heard a yelp of pain from one who wasn't able to successfully stop the small assault. They landed on the surface of the lake, one bent down on his knees and clutched his thigh where she scored a hit. She ignored the cries of agony of the person she caught in the fire jutsu from inside the forest.

The others glared at her while the screams receded. They scrutinized her as they talked amongst themselves. The red they wore, along with the symbol of their Hitat-ate clearly told that they were Iwagakure shinobi. The screams died down, and she assumed that they had perished. She thought quickly, there was still two more missing from their group. _'I won't have much time until the rest arrive ' _She had been able to take down one and immobilize another. It looked like she was being optimistic when she thought she was going to take down two of them. She placed a shaky hand on the hilt of her blade to prepare for the rest to come charging in. There wasn't any hint to if anyone of them was a the sensor. There was only one Kunoichi amongst them, while the rest were men. They avoided looking directly into her eyes, it was clear to which ones were the experienced ones. One of them appeared to be a jonin, she appeared to be in her late-twenties and had hardened eyes. The other's were either chuunin or genin leveled. _'Another jonin will be coming soon'._ The kenjutsu user wasn't among them, and she didn't know the capabilities of the one in front of her.

It was still four against one, she didn't really stand a chance unless she captured one or two with her genjutsu. She would have to heavily utilize her chakra to even have a remote chance of survival. Her blade would slow down her hand signs and she would have to discard it fairly soon. The female jonin seemed to have finished her orders, Mikoto couldn't hear them from the distance and over the sound of the rain.. "We should just kill her" She heard one of them snarl loudly.

"Quiet" The jonin barked. Mikoto did have one thing going for her, they wanted to capture her alive. The standoff took was only about thirty seconds before they burst into action, the jonin went in with cover from the two uninjured ninja. While the other injured prepared himself for long distance support. Completing another series of hand signs she was determined to break their offensive. "Fire Style: Phoenix flower Jutsu" She saw the Jonin go through some hand signs and they stopped in their tracks. _'Water style?'_ Unsheathing her blade as she raced forward to take advantage of the situation, she desperately planned a maneuver.

"Water style: Water wall jutsu!" A torrent of water formed from the lake and shielded them from the fiery torpedoes. "She's coming!" She heard the warning as she quickly jumped over the water formed wall. She saw the jonin looking away, but releasing the jutsu. Two of the younger shinobi were in the middle of preparing to throw kunai. The one providing distance support had already thrown a few, she decided to kill one of them even if they scored a hit. Still descending, she managed to twist her body so that most of the throwing stars raced past her but one imbedded itself into her left shoulder. She made a stabbing motion towards the one closest to her, who was still unprepared and she saw the jonin move to intercept.

Within the panic she winced at the explosive pain in her ribs. She felt resistance with the hand that held her blade and was blown back from the kick the jonin gave her. Gathering her wits she was able to flip set herself and landed on atop the water. She struggled to gather air and forced herself to focus on the scene in front of her. She saw the chuunin she attempted to maim, clutching his throat and loudly gurgling. Blood spurting and flowing down his flak jacket, he lost control of his chakra and began to thrash within the water. "God damn Uchiha!" The other one yelled beside him before being held back by the Jonin. They focused on her, glaring as they let their comrade sink.

"This time, you'll be right behind me" She ordered. Mikoto took the sharp object in her shoulder and threw it away. The Katana was lost when she had gotten kicked in the gut, she figured that it had sunken to the bottom of the lake by now. She vastly underestimated her chakra, and felt the precious remaining continuously drain with her usage of the sharingan. Perhaps it was her stamina that was low. Her gamble had paid off, her desperation to survive made her take sacrifices. To do that she had to quickly eliminate them as quickly as possible. She was nearing her limit but she managed to take down two of them. The two took a step and Mikoto prepared herself.

"Watch out!" The one hanging back yelled out. Mikoto caught movement to her right and to her dismay, found Akira throwing a kunai tagged paper bomb to make them retreat. The explosion rang and they easily avoided it. Deciding that it the best she could do, Mikoto made a run for it.

"Back into the trees!" Mikoto yelled as she raced towards the blonde. They couldn't maintain a fight with a jonin in open ground, especially since others were going to join soon. They were clearly outmatched against a jonin and her ever depleting reserves. The girl kept pressure on them as she threw her shuriken and kunai. Quickly crossing the distance, Akira quickly joined beside her. "Why did you come back?!" She asked angrily, looking to her left to face the blond. She was going to lead them away and try to circle back to the camp.

"I couldn't leave you behind!" She replied. Mikoto didn't get a chance to respond as she saw a blur of movement. Two different Iwa shinobi came out of from the bushes,. Akira already had a kunai out and deflected a fatal blow from the kenjutsu user, before being blasted by a wind style jutsu by the other one. She heard a yelp and was sent flying towards her, the sharingan user felt the wind being knocked out of her as the blond slammed against her. Her vision went dark and felt herself being thrown back by the jutsu.

Mikoto felt her acceleration suddenly stop and she felt pain flash from head to toe, she felt even more pain flash and crumpled to the ground. Her mind went into a daze and she nearly blacked out from the force of the jutsu, her limbs felt heavy and didn't feel like they were responding. The right side of her face felt wet and cold, some water flowing into her mouth. She forced her left eye to open, her vision couldn't focus and she felt like her head was about to explode. Nausea and confusion crept up, before she realized what was occurring. The blurry objects started to clear and she found herself looking at two approaching people clad in red. A blonde girl a meter away and was crawling towards her, she tried to recall who she was. "Mikoto..." She struggled to say, the girl lifted a hand towards her.

"I felt three before" She heard a rough voice comment.

The one with the sword stood over her. "Akira?" Remembering what kind of situation they were in. Her mouth opened, and Mikoto saw a blade descend upon her. Pain flashed across the blonde's face and she saw the life slowly drain from her eyes. Mikoto was speechless, she taken lives before but she never saw one from a good friend. Pain left the green eyed girl, Leaving only a empty husk. Mikoto attempted to clumsily stand on her feet before she something like a hammer hit the top of her head. Slamming back into the ground, her mouth tasted something rusty, and her vision darkened considerably. A constant ringing noise sounded in her head as she struggled to grasp coherence.

"Don't... it's a Uchiha" She heard the muffled talks as she struggled to catch air. _'Am I?...'_ She couldn't allow herself. _'I have to-'_ She cried in pain as she felt something pierce her leg. She heard more talking but it sound muffled. Her body no longer obeyed her commands, she felt her vision fading. She couldn't even move her mouth to voice her protest. _'No...' _and she was casted away into oblivion.

* * *

Menma came across a small lake, he zeroed in on the smoke that he saw earlier. It was the only reason that he had found it. Some trees were a unnaturally bent to the right several meters to the right - from a jutsu he presumed. It was crystal clear, a battle had waged here if the rumbling he heard wasn't just from the thunder. He recalled his memories of seeing a bandaged girl, she looked familiar but her dirty appearance along with the bandage wrapped around her face prevented him from recalling her. He was certain that he seen her before, but she did bare the Konoha hitai-ate. He quickly crossed the sort distance of the lake towards where the fire was being slowly killed away from the rain. He found nothing of use near the burnt trees and decided to inspect where the trees were swayed.

It only took a few seconds to reach the place but he didn't like what he found. A blonde teenage girl was lain on the ground. Some crimson was stained on the back of the flak jacket. He quickly went to her side to see if she could be saved by the help of Kurama's chakra. He turned her over and found shocked lifeless eyes staring into the sky. He heard some sizzling and crackle. "Huh?!" He found a paper bomb attached to her stomach. Going on impulse, he activated Kurama's chakra and grabbed the paper bomb with the cloak and sent it away. The chakra arms disappeared as the explosion sounded harmlessly. "Bastards..." He voiced. It was despicable using a dead body as a booby trap. The girl herself seemed to be about fifteen to sixteen years of age, and wore the Konoha's hitai-ate.

**"You shouldn't use my chakra so recklessly"** The fox berated him.

_'Yeah yeah'_ Menma replied. They had tested on how long it took for him to replenish its chakra. Before it had been able to gather and recover it nearly instantly, but now compared to that. It had been reduced to a slow crawl. Going on alert, he completed a partial transformation with Kurama. Which only allowed him to sense malicious emotions and not to utilize any of his partner's chakra. He had learned how to accomplish it over the last two months. "Hmm..." He felt some retreating thoughts of hatred and killing intent proceeding further away to the north-west. It was a small group of five shinobi, their emotions somewhat varying between each person. He didn't really enjoy using this jutsu, he felt nearly all the pain around him. Much further away and cluttered, if he focused he sense each of the individuals hatred. Including two colossal ones, which Kurama had said that belong to other biju. Those were the ones that had no container. It didn't work on trying to find Nagato, he couldn't read thoughts.

He decided to follow them, since it was another girl that he saw earlier. He left two clones to deal with her burial, since he didn't want to leave her just like that. Along with another one to see if there was someone else around. He set a quick pace as he raced towards where the closest source of hatred was. As he quickly gained on them, he did his best to restrain his anger over the earlier incident._ 'I'm_ _going to do this the way Pervy-sage wanted...' _He believed it was the only way to accomplish it. _'They're just following orders...trying to survive and letting their hatred get control'._ He felt the memories of the shadow clone he left, it had found some burnt remains of a Iwa ninja near some dying flames. There was no indication of anyone else.

Several minutes passed and it seemed that the group he was following stopped in their tracks. **_"Setting a trap"_** He was fairly close to their location, another hundred meters and he would reach them.

_"I was about to say that" _He zoned in on their location and positions. They weren't in any sort of complex formation, seemingly thinking it was useless since he was a sensory type. Although his sensing abilities came from Kurama, or whenever his got his senjutsu. He guessed that he could basically be classified as one. He neared to where they were centered in, and Naruto saw five shinobi standing atop a hill. There was one Kunoichi amongst the group, while the rest were men. _'Two jonin...'_ Seeing the two who were clearly older than the rest, more experienced. The others were of varying ages, fourteen to twenties.

"Another kid huh?" He heard one with sword say. He felt his aura of confidence, nearly border lining on arrogance

"Come to save the precious Uchiha?" A younger one replied. "We should just kill her now!" Most of the hatred stemmed from him. _'He must have lost someone...'_ A brother? A close friend? Concentrating at the task at hand, he took in the slip. _'So do they have someone with them'. _

"We'll do no such thing" The Kunoichi replied to the teenager. "Besides...I don't see any hitai-ate on him..." Turning her attention to him. "But I don't think we should let him leave, just in case"

"Hey!" Menma shouted to them. "Just give her back" He ordered. That seemed to have broke the straw. The one with the sword raced down with his weapon unsheathed. "No choice then..." He still felt like he should protect a comrade, someone who was from his birthplace. _'I can't abandon them'._ It conflicted his feelings about he should go about this, should he kill to protect them. Except to kill was to spread even more hate. He had no more time to think about this as he brought out his father's Kunai that he held in his right hand. _'I'll have to end this quickly to save her'_ There was still the potential she might be killed. The jonin had quickly brought himself in front of him, preparing for a left sweeping motion with his blade. Not wanting to potentially damage his gift, he utilized his mastery over wind nature and brought it to deflect the attack.

He positioned his right foot forward and twisting his body to intercept his attack. Which quickly cut through the blade itself, surprising the gruff jonin. Taking advantage, he brought his left palm speeding towards his chest. He focus chakra of his jutsu. "Rasengan!" A swirling orb of blue reached the man and tore through the flak jacket he wore. The man was sent spiraling away and slammed against the grass roughly, some dirt flying into the air and a small crater forming. **"If you want to spare them, just send shadow clones and save the Uchiha"**

_"Thanks I'll use your chakra!" _He was grateful that he had Kurama to help him think during these situations.

**"One of them is a sensory type too..."**Kurama added. _'Guess I have to knock them out'. _The ones standing above the ridge were surprised over his easy victory with a single jutsu. Only two of them was starting prepare to attack him. He saw his clothing turn golden as he felt Kurama's chakra flow through him. Faster than what they could track he positioned himself behind the Iwa ninja, creating the familiar cross he made one shadow clone for each shinobi standing behind him. They quickly engaged all them in a taijutsu match as Menma found the Konoha shinobi slumped face down on under a tree several meters ahead. Appearing beside her, he picked her up from off the ground made his way back to the bottom of the hill. He left the clones to deal as he heard some jutsu being fired as well as curses and the like.

Deactivating Kurama's cloak, he made his way back to the lake. He was intent on finding a place nearby there. He temporarily saw a image of the two of the shinobi writhing on the ground in pain, while the rest were knocked out. _'At least they're not dead.'_ He somewhat enjoyed it though. A little payback for what they did, although what he did to punish them was paled in comparison to earlier. He looked down on the girl he held bridal style, she was still alive. _'Wait...It's that girl'_ She was pale, a reddened patch of bandaging was on her cheek. Her face was bruised, her lips and cheeks swelling. There was no telling of what other injuries she carried."You'll be fine now" He gave her a connection towards Kurama's chakra, and a golden cloak of chakra appeared around her. Fidgeting, he tore off the patch and inspected her wound to confirm to see if it was working. The gash on her cheek seemed to sewing itself back together. Getting back into his pace, he raced back to where he found the other Kunoichi. He would have to make sure that he wouldn't be found. He looked towards the still raining sky. '_How am I supposed to stop all this hatred...'_ Still...He promised to go on that path, A promise to Nagato.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah...It's obvious to see that Naruto is the most forgiving person, the story I want to tell. Also this will probably be the last 'coincidental' meeting between Mikoto and Naruto.**


	7. Utterly Gutsy

Chapter 7 Utterly Gutsy

**A/N: I enjoy writing, and I particularly wrote this to see Naruto's interactions between people of Minato's generation as well as some action and a pairing. Improving my action sequences and other obvious stuff. I already understand that all people won't enjoy the stories as everyone has varying opinions. I can understand the complaint about Naruto, regardless, I do hope people will still enjoy my story. Even if they are not so vocal about it.**

* * *

"Well this is awkward" Menma commented. He took off her the empty sheath and tossed it aside while also untying her wet hitai-ate. Unzipping the Uchiha's flak jacket, the green vest was soaked and not just with water. The same could be said of her pants and long sleeve. He couldn't just leave her like that; in soaked, dirty, ragged clothes.

He found a very tiny cave, probably an hour away from the lake. He thought that it was far enough so that he couldn't be tracked, but still within distance of the lake. The place was well hidden, surrounded by various trees and bushes. The cavern was only large enough to sit in, and only reached a few meters in the cliff they were in.

She was obviously still unconscious, and he had only given her enough chakra so that her wounds would heal. The connection between their chakra was made, so she would always have a piece of Kurama's chakra within her.

The girl was lain on a the floor, he didn't have anything to keep her warm and help fight against hypothermia. _'Well, I got my jacket and rain coat' _His rain coat covered up to his knees, and his jacket would cover up her small frame, even it was large for him. To even make sure that she wouldn't get sick or possibly die, he would have to take off her soaked clothes.

He pulled the zipper all the way down and the jacket spread apart."Nope can't do this..."

_'It's a bit wrong' _He thought. Sighing, he created some shadow clones to go fetch any firewood. It would take awhile before they actually found any, since the rain made it more difficult. "Screw it" He kneeled over the girl once again before he thought of a brilliant plan. _"Kurama..."_

**"What do you want? **

_"Do this for me"_ Menma asked. He was only met with silence before it finally answered.

**"You can't be serious..."**

_"No..."_ While he would eventually do it. He didn't want to have any perverse thoughts, he didn't want to become like his masters. Reading adult material and peeking on women.

**"..."**Menma found himself within the seal where the fox was kept. Kurama himself had a disbelief look on its face. "**You're an asshole if you think I'll do that, especially for an Uchiha"**

"Oh come on! This is why we're here aren't we?" The blue eyed question. He made up some other reason to help convince him. "I mean, If we're going to change the Uchiha we might as well start with one right?"

**"HA! Sure, but how will undressing an Uchiha help?" **

"Well for starters, she might get too cold and die, all you need to do is take off her wet clothes and put my jacket and coat on her" As he took off said apparel and set it aside the raven haired girl.

**"You could do that yourself...Humans are so fragile and stupid, especially you"**

"Come on, I'll do whatever you ask later on, a favor" He ignored the foxes earlier jab. Although this seemed to have caught the biju's interest. "Anything" He reiterated.

A moment passed before a sly smirk lit up on its face. At least the closest it could be with its teeth bared, "**On your nindo?"**

"Sure!" Menma casually replied. He might as well let him see the outside for a bit.

**"Idiot, but since It's insignificant, I'll do it, but I'll ask something later" **

Menma wasn't even worried about it, but he still was curious about it. He surrendered control over his body. It still felt a little weird when did happened, he could still see what was occurring if he concentrated on it but he chose not to. It was several minutes later when Kurama returned. **"Done"**

"Sweet"

He found himself looking at the girl, who was nestled a little clumsily in his jacket and coat. Thankfully she still wore a black shirt on, which looked mostly dry. The orange color of his favorite jacket itself covered up halfway down her thighs, he made sure the rain jacket covered her up. Beside her was the flak jacket, hitai-ate, pants and socks. He would have to make a fire to dry her clothes whenever his clones returned.

He checked the small bag he carried, seeing how much food he had. _'Three rice balls and some water...obviously no money' _Menma dug into his tool pouch and took a look at the map to see if there any nearby locations for any food or supplies. Satisfied, he shuffled outside the cave, which was merely several feet away. He created a few shadow clones to go ahead and steal some food and supplies at the locations nearby, as well as to replace the shadow clone at the Ame orphans. "Now I just need to wait" and sat himself under the cover of the cave. He reflected with Kurama while he waited for the Uchiha to awaken.

* * *

Menma took a step out of the cover of the forest and into the road. He saw the incredibly faint smoke rising a distance away, from the town he was heading towards. He was tasked with gathering extra food for the girl he had rescued as well as any extra clothing. It didn't look like he could accomplish that, not when he saw the destruction ahead of him. A small wall blocked the sight of the town. As he neared the site of the town, the scope of the destroyed town was starting to clear. A nearby post, which he assumed would have held the name of the town was torn down. He ignored them and focused on reaching the inside of the unnamed town.

The town was surrounded by a small wall, merely to keep out ordinary bandits or wildlife. Most sections were cracked and falling apart, either by time or the most likely, the war. He walked towards the entrance, and even with the wall blocking most of the view of the village. He could guess the destruction of the town by the opening that led to it. A building was torn down in the street he saw, with bodies strewn along it. Reaching to the entrance, he took a deep breath and walked through the gate.

He heard noise to his right to see someone turning around the corner, fleeing from him. From what he recalled of the map, the town was small and it didn't seem like it would be a target. Of course he didn't know much about planning and such. _'It didn't save it at all'. _He proceeded through the town to see if he could be of help to anyone, if they desired it. Mostly, he was just looking to see if there was anything left scavenging for the original.

The mess was chaotic, as he walked deeper inside the town. Several buildings were completely torn down, rubble cluttered the streets. He passed several bodies that laid on the side of the roads, he didn't think about whether there was more inside the fallen buildings. There didn't seem to be much, scavengers rummaging about but fleeing whenever they caught site of anyone. Even to Menma, it was clear as to who it was responsible for this chaos. He even caught sight bodies of the attacking shinobi, joining them the Ame ninja defending their homes. The town was nearly deserted, but he kept hearing noise the closer to the center of town he got. Deciding to catch a peek, he decided to see what was occurring.

He climbed up a building to see whether he could catch a glimpse on the noise, which sounded like orders being shouted. _'Konoha Shinobi...'_ Seeing the familiar forest green flak jackets entering the from the east side of town. He took an estimate that there might have been about a hundred of them. The bulk moved slowly, making sure that they wouldn't be caught in a ambush. _'They must have been pushed back...'_ It seemed most of the civilians have been evacuated. Seeing enough of this, he turned around and made his way to the west. To see if he could gather up any supplies before his allotted time ran out before he made it back to the cave.

He was in no real danger since he was just clone, but he didn't want to have a confrontation with people from his hometown. He quickly put distance between him and the approaching invaders. He tried to search for any markets that might contain food or any gear.

_'Comrades...' _Even if it was only brief. He had fought and bled alongside the allied shinobi. They fought together to combat an evil, to protect themselves and to protect their homes. Even if it was brief, he considered everyone part of the alliance a comrade. Even if it didn't exist yet, he couldn't get the notion out of his head.

He heard a scream. "Huh" Turning towards the noise, which seemed to be nearby. He made his way to the approximate location and heard talking as he approached.

"Stop!" He heard a man.

"Screw off!" Another said, which Menma assumed to be an accomplice of the other. He attached himself on the side of the two story building.

"Please don't!" He heard a woman's plea. Nearing the corner, he peeked down below to see three people in an alleyway. Standing two meters in the path, a brown haired woman was cowering against the wall, fearing for her life. Another person face down was dead at her feet. Two men stood in front of the woman, one handled a kunai in his hand while another held him back. Menma saw the backs of the two, unaware that they were here._ 'What are they doing here?'_ He watched the events unfold, waiting to see what would happen before he stepped in.

"They're just civilians" The one holding the one with kunai said. He wore a bandana on his head, along with the green chuunin flak jacket.

"I don't care" The other one replied coldly. Also baring the green flak jacket. Menma felt himself clenching his fists painfully.

"What if the enemy comes looking for us?" The man with bandana asked. The other merely laughed mockingly.

"They're all gone, and more of us coming here...So fuck off unless I need to teach you a lesson too" He threatened. A roughly shrugged off the hand attached to him.

The man with the bandana shrunk from the glare he sent off before steeling himself once more. "You can't do this..." He replied to the man.

"And? What are you going to do about it?" Turning to face the man. Menma felt his heartbeat accelerating with each and every moment. His muscles tense, aching for relief and action.

The man with the bandana took a few glances between the man and woman. _'Come on...'_Menma begged.

"I can't watch this..." The chuunin turned away. Menma heard the whimper of the woman below. The man with the kunai turned to the woman once again. The other walking out from the alleyway. Menma breathless watched as he turned the corner and started running to the south. '_Coward...'_ He thought. Looking down below to see the man slowly approaching the crying woman. _'This is...'_ Standing idly by while a innocent person was being threatened didn't work with him. It didn't matter if he was from Konoha or not.

Menma jumped down below, a slight splash from the puddle alerted the man. Before he knew it, a roundhouse kick to his side sent him away. _'The hell?!' _The woman was surprised by the his sudden appearance but was too scared to move, even with his suggestion to run. He made sure that the brunette was behind him to protect her from the man rising to his feet.

Menma looked at the shinobi that stood before him. _'So?...Where is it? The Will of Fire?!' _Was this was how it was? _'Is this what Kakashi-sensei meant?' _He saw the symbol of the hitai-ate, the chuunin flak jacket of the ninja of Konoha. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He struggled not to yell, he felt his breathing go ragged and the shaking of his limbs. Menma saw the look in his eyes.

"It's their fault...But I don't have to answer to you" The person replied. He saw a wicked smile on his face. It was one that he saw before, the look that was from some of the members of the Akatsuki. Enjoyment, pleasure at hurting others.

He felt the negative emotions of the person in front of him. The want to kill present. _'I can't just...'_ He gritted his teeth in frustration. The man grabbed a hold of a kunai and pointed it at him. Menma took a look at the body from earlier, a young man. Several crimson stains guttered out from the several stab wounds.

"You're next kid" Menma knew what he had to do. It was justice. He took a look the man preparing to attack. He prepared to channel to his elemental nature to his father's kunai. The man charged, clearly underestimating his opponent.

It lasted only for a moment.

Menma breathed in deeply, he paid no attention to the sound of the man's head falling off of him. The body fell back onto the wet concrete, a thud, and sickening sounds were heard. He paid attention to the rain to the drown the sound away. Menma quickly turned away to the girl, to distract himself over what he'd done.

The woman was leaning over the body of the man. Whimpering and clutching the coat of the person. He walked over to her, but she didn't acknowledge him. He could feel the negative emotions pouring off her, as well numerous approaching ones from the south and east.

"We need to go before more come" He said emotionlessly. She didn't care to respond for another moment. A subtle nod was all he got. She caressed the young man's face, a small cry escaping from her. He looked away for her privacy as she made her silent goodbyes.

Hearing some fumbling, he saw her brandishing a backpack and covered her face with the hood of the coat.

"I'll make sure you're safe until..." He trailed off.

"Thank you..." She replied lowly. Still looking at the ground. She made her way past him and out of the the alleyway. Menma didn't look back and followed her out. Making their way to the western exit, he made sure to keep on guard.

Luckily, there were no more incidents. The trek outside only took a few minutes. Menma relaxed a little and he silently accompanied her. Deciding to protect her until she found others, they made their way on the road deeper into the country. The grieving woman made no other comments and he left her alone.

Menma was in disbelief. Not over for what he'd done, but over his own confusion. He turned and walked away, heading back towards the outside. He'd knew that he would have to kill, just not one of his own. It was confusing for him, because it simply was of what he felt.

He felt it during the war, the white zetsu's all felt the same, clones. Other people from the villages were different, the people he fought with. It was distinct, because there was many of them. The allied shinobi were more unique, but he still felt their emotions. Some were similar, but differed from one another but he kept his focus on the clones.

The things he felt from the man didn't differ much from the people who were in pain, who wanted revenged, who suffered. That man just wanted to inflict pain on others, all for his own enjoyment. He was nothing more than a monster. What shook him up, his sensing abilities were unreliable from telling the monsters apart. They was almost no different from each other.

Menma wandered with the girl, until a caravan came into view. Nothing was said between them, and he wordlessly left.

He wandered around aimlessly, but he didn't care, ge was just a shadow clone after all. Reflecting on his dream, he wondered about how he was going to achieve that. The distance he would go to complete it, his mission to accomplish peace through understanding. He recalled Nagato's words that was said to him. This war involved money, simply that. A puff of smoke ended its existence.

* * *

_Silver, sharp and long. The blade reflected the surrounding light, shadows loomed over her. Droplets fell around her pained face. Mikoto looked up at the attacker, and it descended._

Gasping awake, her eyes shot open in alarm. She saw the dim low rocky ceiling fill her vision. She heard the crackling of a fire to her left as well as the thunder and rain. _'Wasn't I?...'_ She could smell the musky scent of whatever she was covered by. Most of her clothes seemed to have been taken off, with the exception of her undergarments and shirt. For a quick moment she worried but Mikoto was a little confused as to why she was left unbound. She could only come up with that she was rescued. She was covered by a rain coat, with her legs covered by a orange and black jacket. She turned towards the light of the fire, to see the rest of her clothing hung up beside to dry.

The fireplace was placed inside the cave, just out of the path of the falling rain. It was dark, the only source of light was came from the fire. The sound of thunder, or explosions sounded in the distance.

It was odd, she didn't feel like she was at death's door. She couldn't feel any of the burning sensations of her wounds. She crept her hand up to her right cheek where she was slashed across. To feel nothing swollen, or any hints of an outline of a scar. It just disappeared.

She could only think that someone with an expertise in medical ninjutsu and done it. Except medical ninja were far and between, only working on life threatening wounds and such. They were severely overworked and wouldn't bother with such an unnecessary task. The best that they would do is stitch it up, if someone else couldn't do it.

Despite that her healed wounded, she felt devoid of energy.

"So you're a awake huh?" Hearing a friendly voice. Alarmed, she sat up and faced the direction of the voice. She saw a boy that sat across from her against the wall. The fire partly lit up his features in the darkness. His hair was black and spiky but that was all she could make out. Despite his tone of voice, he seemed little troubled. She swore that he had looked familiar, she couldn't pinpoint where. He was wearing a black long sleeve that was a size or two too large.

"Who are you?" She asked. It was clear that she wasn't being held captive.

"Menma" He replied lowly. He turned to look at the fire. She tried focusing on her predicament. "I saved you from those shinobi..."

"Did-"

"I distracted them and grabbed you..." He added. The raven haired didn't necessarily believe him, but she stopped her prodding for now.

"...Thank you..." Mikoto replied. She shivered at the thought at what would've happened. "My name is Mikoto...Mikoto Uchiha" He nodded. She couldn't shake this feeling that she should remember him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm an orphan so yeah..." He turned to her. She realized that she had seen the vibrant blue color in his eyes before. She sent chakra to her eyes only to meet with failure, she soothed the slight pain that flared in her eyes. "You hungry?" He asked. He fumbled with something. She felt her stomach grumble painfully, she didn't quite remember the last time she ate.

"Yeah..." She looked up to see him handing out two rice balls, as well as a canteenShe controlled herself as she took the items from him. "Thanks..." She quietly nibbled on her food for a few minutes. She peeked at him, he looked troubled as he continued to look at the flickering fire. "So you're a shinobi..." She stated. and occasionally took bites out of her food.

** "**You can say that" He said quietly.

A silence overcame them while Mikoto tried to come up with questions. She had a sneaking suspicion, but she would have to wait a little before she could use her sharingan. She recalled the clothing that person she had fought when he had infiltrated, orange pants. _'It could be that guy..._' There was no use accusing him out right on that basis, seeing his chakra signature was all she needed. He was no ordinary shinobi if he could just outwit and outrun some jonin. If he was that person, she saw sure that he was able to kill them.

"So why did you save me?" She voiced.

"It looked like you needed help"

"Really? That's it?"

"Is there any other reason?, I saw someone in need and I had to help them" He answered. Mikoto could think of several conclusions, some of them greatly unfavorable. He looked a little guilty for some reason, but it seemed like he answered mostly the truth.

Mikoto stared in his blue eyed boy; his eyes spoke of loneliness, regret, frustration and sadness. A troubled soul, no different from many people during this time. Except his eyes also carried confidence and unwavering resolve, and kindness. She wondered what fight was occurring inside him. The answer was a little odd.

"You do know where I am from right?"

"...I do..." He replied quietly.

"So you knowingly helped me"

"Yeah..."

"I don't see a hitai-ate on you..."

"You can say I'm from here" He replied.

"I'm not sure if you know, but that makes us enemies" Mikoto said. "And you still helped me?"

"I didn't say I was a Ame shinobi...Although..." He trailed off, he had a amused look before it disappeared. "Yeah I did, is it a bad thing wanting to help people or comrades?"

"No" She answered. He smiled.

"So you would help your comrades then?"He questioned. "Rather than complete a mission?"

"Yes..." She trailed off. A passing thought entered about Akira. _'She wanted to do the same for me... what I did for her...'_ She thought about would've happened if she didn't come. _'Would I have died?'_ She shook those thoughts away, and focused on getting a answer out of him. He had a little smirk, satisfied at her answer.

" So why were you sulking earlier?" She added. Which made that smile disappear. "Tell me since I answered yours"

"I'm just thinking about my future and past" He was oddly amused by this. _'What a weirdo'._ "About my mistakes...and any upcoming ones" He added. "Tell me... What do you think of your village?" He asked suddenly. Curiosity flared up on his face as he peeked at her. She decided to give a vague answer.

"I'll protect it..." She replied. He seemed to have knowing look and responded.

"What about your clan?"

"Why should I tell you?" She retorted.

"Here's what I think, you're clan is a bunch of arrogant pricks, they'll probably die off if they keep thinking that they're better than everyone else" He replied.

"What the hell do you know?"She replied and he simply ignored and continued. Mikoto felt her blood boiling over the spiky haired boy.

"Tell me... What do you think is stronger? The village or the Uchiha?" He replied.

"The Uchiha of course!" Feeling her anger burst through. He seemed greatly disappointed in that answer.

"Why didn't you say the village?"

"What are you talking about?!" She raised her voice. Just how the hell did the conversation steer that way? _'Who the hell is this guy?'_

"You don't think the Uchiha and Village are the same?" He answered. She was surprised by the answer. "Where is your loyalty?"

"I..." She couldn't answer him. Not when she didn't figure out the answer for herself. "Just what do you know? You're just an orphan, you don't come from a clan or village if you say so" She angrily said through gritted teeth. Mikoto had to restrain herself from yelling, knowing that she was potentially in a unfamiliar land.

"Sure... But doesn't the clan also get stronger if the village gets stronger? The clan can't survive without the village, but the village can survive without the clan"

"Stop acting like you know everything!" She felt her Sharingan flare up, it lasted only for a moment. Although it was all she needed to recognize the warm chakra. "...So it really was you..." She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in anger.

* * *

Menma looked at quivering girl, barely holding onto her emotions. He saw the red eyes she displayed, it was inevitable that he would be remembered. Especially since she was the only that he fought in the town before. She was a little confused about where her loyalties laid in, but Menma wanted her to put the village first.

_'Was she a part of the coup?' _He obviously didn't know everything, but he wanted to stop the Uchiha massacre from ever happening. He wasn't entire sure how to go about that, but he had to start somewhere. If he could just start with her, he was one step in halting it. By Kurama's suggestion, he coerced her by insulting her clan, which was only true in his opinion.

Kurama had explained to him that the villagers and other ninja possibly saw his eyes reflect the sharingan,. It didn't help that that the traitor Madara -an Uchiha- had the power to control the nine tails as well. It only created even more contempt and animosity between the clan and the villagers.

In Menma's youth, he didn't quite remember the Uchiha but it was clear they didn't really talk with the other occupants. He remembered that they actually didn't live within the village, but rather away from the rest.

"So..." She voiced through clenched teeth. "What really happened? Did you kill them? Those Iwa bastards?" The Uchiha struggled to say.

Menma knew this was inevitable, he just had to hope. He couldn't really place much in it. "I let them go..." He replied.

"Tch..." She hissed. "You..." He didn't know what happened, or how close the both of them were, or even how much she treasured bonds. Losing friends to enemy shinobi and getting revenge only created endless cycles. Forgiveness...As he found out, was nearly impossible. Staying the course seemed to be even harder. "Why did you?..." She seemed to be doing the best she possibly can to restrain herself.

"Try and help stop the cycle of hatred..." Menma replied. "I wasn't sure if they enjoyed killing..." The thought never occurred to him. Only the suffering appeared, it was only a few hours ago that his ability didn't sense the enjoyment when they did kill. It just felt too convoluted, too much negativity in everyone's hearts.

"You know what I saw! What I saw when he killed my friend!?" Mikoto angrily yelled. Her stare showed coldness in her eyes. Her eyes watering with tears, but dared not to spill. Menma could only look at her with an emotionless mask. "I saw a smile! A fucking smile on his face as he stabbed her!" She bowed her head and breathed in deeply, no doubt reliving the moment.

Menma didn't know how to respond. That he didn't know? Sorry he didn't kill him? If he had known...He would have. _'People who enjoy killing...'_ He clenched his fist, gritted his teeth together in a attempt to control himself. Perhaps he was being too naive._ 'What am I supposed to do?'_ He asked himself once more.

There was purely evil people in the world, who just resolved to killing. With no such regard for the other, all for their own amusement. He recalled the ones he saw, Deidara and Kakuzu. He remembered the data that Kabuto had given him, people who just enjoyed killing. Someone like Obito, just didn't care anymore, whether anyone died or lived. The pure trash were those like Deidara.

Did he let one of them live? To cause even more pain for their own leisure? Menma wasn't even sure how he could live with that. '_The kenjutsu user...'_

"Why the hell did you do that?" She spoke lowly.

"...I'm doing this for the sake of my master, he believed that one day everyone would understand one another, and we would truly live in harmony" He spoke to her.

"That's just a load of shit" She replied. "You're naive, just a lost boy" Mikoto retorted.

"And?... What else am I supposed to do?" Menma asked. He thought a lot about his friends, his sensei's. What Hinata had told him, talking about this was bringing up past memories. "Do you have an answer?"

He could see that she was little taken back by his question. He could hear the desperation in his voice as he said it. Perhaps she never seriously thought about peace, but it was only human nature to think about their own happiness. She didn't respond, and so he continued.

"I keep going...because I'm frustrated, I don't know what to do, so I keep moving forward so I don't have to think about it too much" He answered. Despite his strength, he was still just a seventeen year old boy. He knew what he wanted to accomplish, peace achieved by mutual understanding. But... He didn't have a clue of how he was going to achieve that.

"I want to know what your answer is..." He was met with even more silence.

"If Konoha was the strongest, than all that would be achieved" The girl stated. Menma merely laughed.

"What's that supposed to do?" He asked.

"It will keep peace"

"Sure it will...But how long? The rest of the villages will be in fear, what if they all join together to destroy the village?" He asked. Thinking about ways to achieve peace had clouded his thoughts for the last few months. Even the ways that Madara and Obito. A perfect haven, no conflicts and nothing bad ever happened, all dreams would be accomplished. It was a fake world. There would be no sadness, it's what made moments of happiness so special. He desired a real one, even if there was moments of sadness even if his precious people died. They perished in what they believed in.

" The strongest won't let them"

"..."Menma looked at the girl. "There might be peace for a while... but all that it will be doing, is for hatred grow" He hadn't thought about how far, the only things on his mind were of getting rid of Madara, stopping Obito and saving Nagato. "It won't last, it's only temporary" He could feel the emotions rolling off her. The intent to kill, similar to all the others he felt around him. He questioned himself as to how he could differentiate them one another, it was hard to concentrate within the heat of battle.

She laughed mockingly. "You're just a kid, so what if you're a shinobi? You're not like any others I've ever met, Talking about peace like you'll achieve it" She shook her head and glanced over the fire.

_'The way Pervy-sage wanted it'._ It was true that he wasn't like ordinary shinobi, he never was. To Naruto, being a ninja was a path to being recognized, a path to being Hokage. It was originally why he became a shinobi of his village, so all the hate towards him would stop.

It was to protect his friends, the people important to him. Now he was entrusted with a dream to achieve true peace. He inherited his master's will, as well as Nagato's and his father's. They placed their trust and believed in him. Just... disregarding that, felt like he was making them perish forever. He wasn't going to honor their memory.

Hinata's words resounded in his head once more.

_"They wouldn't be comrades anymore...That would be the real way to kill your friends!"_ He could see her pupil less eyes as she kneeled in front of him. Full of belief in her words. He desired his friends, the bonds he had made. He would truly never acquire the same bonds he shared with each and every one of his friends and masters. Would they be a cheap imitation?

"Being a shinobi... they are meant to endure" He replied. "I don't care what a shinobi means here, completing the mission at any cost is a load of bull shit!" He yelled."What I'll never do...Is abandon my friends!"

Menma knew one thing for certain, severing his bonds wasn't his way. _'Even if I never get to be friends with them again... I'll never forget them.' _He didn't want to do that, it was the last thing he wanted to accomplish. It was like killing them himself. Despite changing his name, he would always Naruto. His nindo, was to never go back on one's words, Hinata had reminded him of that. The road he chose wasn't easy, nigh impossible even. Naruto treasured the bonds he made, always. Menma would be the same.

"My nindo, is to never go back on one's words!" If he couldn't achieve it, then that was all to it. He could at least die knowing he did something, and not disgracing their memories. He still deeply treasured his bonds, regardless if he would never see them again.

**"You still got me, Naruto"**

_"...I know...We're going to do this your old man wanted too right?"_ He saw the fox nod approvingly.

**"It's the only reason why I'm helping you, and why the other biju gave you their chakra"** He knew one thing, he couldn't do it with Kurama's help.

"I'm naive, yeah... It doesn't matter" He started. " I'll probably make a lot of mistakes, and I'll probably regret them" The black haired girl looked at him. "I just have to keep going, because I don't want to go on another path"

"Pfft...You won't be able to do it..." She spoke lowly. Her voice not as defiant as before.

"I honestly don't care if I fail... at least I gave it my all" He replied to the Uchiha. "I know one thing... At least I'll die happy and I'll be able to make my sensei and my parent's proud, I know they'll proud of me even If I don't accomplish it, and I'll pass my dream to my own student"

"You're just... Stupid" She replied. He chuckled softly.

"I know..."He voiced to her."But If I don't... I won't be me..."

"You're just like my stupid best friend... " She replied softly. "She never wants to lose an argument..." she whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Ugh. Another heavy chapter, but I felt like it was needed. **


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